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Razor Sharp

You, my father, 
Too damned independent at seventy-five 
To admit you could no longer handle 
A simple double-edge Gillette, 

In the Right Hands

“Let’s see what sort of surprises await us in Jennifer’s story,” Jean-Paul said wearily and shuffled the story pages on his desk, as though by doing so he would impose order on narrative chaos. What…

A Reply

There are significant differences between historical investigation of controversial issues and the polemical use of history. Jeff D. Blake’s essay is a textbook example of polemics impersonating as history.  First, he employs the classic “straw…

1948

She was learning German that year, 
a war bride, living in Darmstadt, 
trying to say ich in the back of her throat, 
the guttural r of Herr and Frau, to introduce 

The Three Boats

And God came to me and shewed me 
a boat on troubled waters. 
“Shall you stretch forth your hand 
to steady the vessel before it founders?” 
“I shall,” I said, and took the boat 
in my hand and removed it from danger. 

A Granddaughter Remembers

I was a blessed child. I had a grandmother who loved me and who showed it. Her name was Ruth Alice Bird Harper Lewis, and as grand mothers go, she was a rare and wonderful…