An original poem. Bar the doorsEveryone under your desksBe stillQuiet nowQuiet Hide where? Where tanks rolland bombs falland fields burnand flies gather? Hide under desks? There’s no school leftno hospitalno homenowhere to hide where pipes run dryand shelves are bare,where bodies are maimedand children starve Don’t call it genocide,someone might notice Quiet childrenPleasePlease be quietContinue reading “Active Shooter”
Author Archives: Robert Davis
The Empire Strikes Back
I started writing this in response to the news that the Republicans will have a majority in the House of Representatives. So, it’s a clean sweep: the Presidency, the House, the Senate, and of course the ongoing 6-3 revanchist majority on the Supreme Court. Come January, the Republicans will be able to start implementing theirContinue reading “The Empire Strikes Back”
Yr Awen
An original poem, in Welsh. O wâl y berth, bob nos o dan y sêr, yn llawn nerth, draw ar hyd y llwybrau cudd, daw ysbryd hynod, teg ar orchwyl pêr a ddysgwyd ar y cof ers llawer dydd. Mor swil ei wedd, oes oesoedd dan ei draed, mae’r ysbryd yn ymroi ei hun i’wContinue reading “Yr Awen”
Sun Tzu
An original poem, in collaboration with an anonymous friend. he tells herabout this book he ordered“The Art of War,by some Chinese guy”like it’s somethingobscuresomethingshe’d never have heard of he paidtwelve dollars shipping sohow to tell himshe has at leastone copyalready
Ahead Full Impulse Power
I’ve been a Star Trek fan and a space exploration enthusiast ever since I was a kid. My career as an aerospace engineer is in large measure attributable to these passions, which were refracted kaleidoscopically through each other until it was practically impossible to tease them apart. In the mind of my twelve-year-old self, spendingContinue reading “Ahead Full Impulse Power”
When We Fight About What Jesus Would Do
I heard a sermon once a few years ago, in a United Methodist congregation that was living in a state of unacknowledged denial about the depth of division within that congregation, within the United Methodist Church, and within the United States writ large. Something about the sermon didn’t sit right with me, and in dueContinue reading “When We Fight About What Jesus Would Do”
Going to Extremes
An original poem. the first thinga child learns in the kitchenis that the stove is hotso, so hottoo hotdon’t touchnever touch living in the desertyou get used to the heat,which is to say that in July you get used to opening the front door like opening the oven doorand changing your mindabout leaving the houseat all toContinue reading “Going to Extremes”
Brief Thoughts on Gender
“Masculine” and “feminine” provide a script that says, here are the social roles you perform, here are the family roles you perform, here’s the power and respect you get (or don’t), and here’s a grab-bag of gender-linked personality/hobby/skill things you get to choose from to finish filling out your character sheet in the RPG ofContinue reading “Brief Thoughts on Gender”
Plygain for Peace: Appreciating Welsh Christmas Music
I’m slightly belated relative to the beginning of the season of Advent, but Christmas hasn’t come yet, so it’s not too late for a few thoughts on the music of the season! As a second-language Welsh speaker, I was at first unfamiliar with Welsh music, but learning the language gave me entry to an entireContinue reading “Plygain for Peace: Appreciating Welsh Christmas Music”
O Dewch i Ben y Mynydd
Early in my journey of learning Welsh, I encountered a poem by the 19th century bard Mynyddog (given name Richard Davies). Though he enjoyed some notoriety during his own lifetime, he wasn’t an astounding poet and isn’t particularly remembered or celebrated as such today. And yet, he made some contributions to Welsh culture that have,Continue reading “O Dewch i Ben y Mynydd”
Thoughts of Rob 