It took Devin awhile to adjust to being away from home when he started kindergarten, and it always made him feel safer if he saw his big brother during the day.  At lunch one afternoon, just before leaving for kindergarten, Devin prayed that he would see Patrick at recess.  When I picked the boys up [...]

I’ve attended many funerals in my life. Far too many, really. Before I’d reached my 13th birthday, I’d already attended the funerals of my father, my older brother, and three of my grandparents. Since then, I’ve been to countless other funerals. Some, like the services for my teenage cousin and the [...]

It’s National Poetry Month and here at Segullah we’re celebrating by hosting another poetry challenge. We were delighted by the response to our limerick contest in March and would now like to put out a call for haikus.
To refresh your memory, a haiku is a very short poem consisting of 17 syllables divided into [...]

At Segullah, we are always on the lookout for good poetry to publish. So, what exactly is good poetry? I think most of us are better at enjoying it than defining it, but here are three of my favorite attempts, all from the poet, Carl Sandburg:
“Poetry is the opening and closing of a [...]

Blood and Milk
I dreamed of Oxford . . .
          (spires, a thousand spires, endless lectures, musty halls
          a solitary self in a Bodleian expanse
          A good life my dear Wormwood. An orderly life.)
then awakened to laundry
          and things to be wiped
          (countertops, noses, bottoms)
How did this happen? And when, exactly?