Author Archives: jackpelham

Perhaps I’ll write a poem a day.My fans can say on what.And I will then have found a wayTo sit here on my butt. The dollars, they’ll come pouring inFrom fans both far and near.They’ll clamor here, each verse to … Continue reading →

Ah! That intoxicating hope thatSecond Things First might actually beA viable policy— That too-good-to-be-true notion that,For many vain people,Is also the too-good-to-pass-up thrill—

There are hundreds of posts and pages here, with all kinds of material. This home page shows the latest posts, and they tend to come in waves. So if you should see lots of poetry posts in a row, or … Continue reading →

Until a person Has surrendered fully To his own fallibility, And no longer supposes that “If I were wrong about this,I would know it,”— I don’t thinkHe’s ready yetTo considerThe things of this worldAs they truly ought to be considered.

They say the light from the stars Takes a very long time to reach us, And I wonder at how It seems to be the same With the light of the ancient scriptures—So distant from us in timeAnd cultureAnd speechThat … Continue reading →

Fraught with error And delay And distraction As they may have been, I have spent these years Generally advancing Upon the conclusion that Our species is prone To clumsiness of mind, And is yet mostWondrously capable of rising Momentarily into … Continue reading →

The cheater will seize upon an ambiguityIn your evidence for a thing,And resolutely take the opposite view to yours,As if the matter weren’t reallyAmbiguous after all.

He makes a grand mistakeWho counts his belief in a thingAmong the reasons thatThe thing should be believed.

When a man finally grows up,He realizes that he is naked.And then, it’sTime to get dressed.

Without outside help,Man wouldn’t even knowThat he was naked.