A Poem of mine from the latest Our Poetry Archive

   My wife Pam and I spent some time in August visited nearby Musgrove Mill Revolutionary War battlefield site. It is a South Carolina state park There were some major battles in the final phase of that conflict here

such as Camden and The Cowpens. And there were dozens of other skirmishes in a conflict that put neighbor against neighbor. 

     The vitriolic state of affairs known as the 2016 Presidential Election got me to wondering if we might not be headed toward something similar. Our Poetry Archive ws kind enough to publish it this month. A long-term dear friend, Carol Worthington Levy, posted it on Facebook, as did a newer friend, Jane Crooks Britt. you can see two other poems by me, and many more by other poets at: 

http://ourpoetryarchive.blogspot.com/

REFLECTION ON MUSGROVE MILL AND TODAY

Along the Enoree’s banks, Musgrove Mill

lies among the Piedmont’s pines and hardwoods.

On a sultry, long-ago August day

Loyalist and Patriot joined battle,

neighbors and kinsman clashing, Scotsmen too,

blood flowing on green-ringed forest meadow.

Now rages renewed warfare all around

in cyberspace, chatrooms, and face-to-face.

Everyone a combatant now, none are spared;

Tarleton’s Quarter appears merciful.

Friendships severed, relationships broken

not only here but from coast-to-coast.

The Republic for which for which the victors bled

unravels like a second-hand overcoat.

Arthur Turfa, ©2016

Bob Dylan's Nobel Acceptance Speech

     He makes some interesting remarks here about Shakespeare, and I appreciate him mentioning Thomas Mann. When I was at UC-Berkeley in 1975, I took a class on Mann taught by his son, Michael.

     Still, I wish Bob had read it in person.

https://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/literature/laureates/2016/dylan-speech.html

To Chapbook, or not to Chapbook?

   I know I sound like Hamlet; but there is no bare bodkin here! Right now there are about 25-30 poems that did not fit into the second manuscript; some are in my Six Poems On Kindle Desktop Publishing.

 https://www.amazon.com/Six-Poems-Arthur-Turfa-ebook/dp/B01M9EI6BA

   Tonight I am informally asking for feedback. How does a chapbook sound? I am hoping to publish the second manuscript, but a chapbook might be fun,

    Let me hear from you! Thanks!

Greg Lake, RIP

    Yesterday Greg Lake succumbed to cancer. A founding member of King Crimson and Emerson, Lake, and Palmer, he evolved into an elder statesman of progressive rock. This genre has stood the test of time. Trained in classical music and and more modern genres, Lake and his peers combined the best parts of them.

     "Lucky Man" was used as filler for an ELP album but has become much more than that. I referenced it in my recent poetry class when discussing the 17th Century Cavalier poets.

    We were lucky to have had Lake with us, and lucky still to have his immortal music.

http://www.greglake.com/about_biography.html

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=89g1P_J40JA

http://www.luminarium.org/sevenlit/cavalier.htm

Two great links here!

     For once, I am not talking about Places and Times, and what a nice holiday gift it would make. (definition of a Hungarian: someone who gets in a revolving door behind you but gets out in front of you)

    Jenna Le is a wonderful poet; I have never met her, but I have read her books. She is a physician in New York City and somehow finds time to write excellent poetry. I have used her works in my college poetry class.

http://anchorplume.bigcartel.com/  - enter code HAULIDAY

    Carol Worthington-Levy and I met in our 8th grade Reading class. I believe I made some sarcastic comment to her about the class. We always knew that she would become and awesome artist and musician-vocalist. Many people are surprised that I turned out as well as I have.

    One of her works graces the cover of my book, and she is working on a cover for the next one. I am working on getting it published!

http://worthingtonfineart.com/

I wish I had gone to Wales.....

     In 1979 I had a month in the UK, a BritRail pass, and money in my pocket. My brother and his wife lived in Manchester, which is where I left one of my bags. I made some friends in Edinburgh and traveled further north and south with them. some of my buddies whom I made when studying in Trier, Germany has enough money left on a Fulbright grant to meet me in London for a weekend. How difficult that was to organize before cell phones and the Internet!

     I never really went to the Highlands in Scotland, and I also never went to Wales. It would have been wonderful to hear the sonorous Welsh voices and to see the scenery. Ah.....Four years later on our honeymoon we came close, but never went to the other side of Offa's Dyke. We had jobs and limited time off. Rather like now, actually, but it is all right.

    Last night in the poetry class I teach we heard Richard Burton reading Dylan Thomas' "Fern Hill". I explained to them how Robert Zimmerman was so enthralled with the poet that he took the first name for his new surname. Only one of the class knew Burton, from Cleopatra.

    The poem is here for you!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Z-ZuguSrQQ

The Big Mac has its roots in Western Pennsylvania

There are a few things of general interest here. Michael Delligatti did not receive a single cent from McDonald's for this. He also introduced the hot breakfast for steelworkers coming off of the third shift.

I also remember the Big Boy restaurant, from where the idea for a Big Mac came.

But I do not eat so large a burger at one time anymore!

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/30/business/michael-james-delligatti-creator-of-the-big-mac-dies-at-98.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&clickSource=story-heading&module=second-column-region&region=top-news&WT.nav=top-news&_r=0