Category Archives: Writing

Only wait a while and listen.

Posted on March 9, 2026 by Brian D. Butler

I recently had a sad conversation with my sister about someone who we both loved who took his own life many years ago. It reminded me of this moving poem by Pulitzer-winning poet Galway Kinnell  addressed to a student of his … Continue reading →

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Five Centuries of Vulgarity

Posted on March 1, 2026 by Brian D. Butler

Green’s Dictionary of Slang has become available as a free website, giving you access to an even more updated version of the dictionary. Collectively, the website lets you trace the development of slang over the past 500 years. The website allows lookups … Continue reading →

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My Magnum Opus

Posted on February 22, 2026 by Brian D. Butler
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“Practice resurrection. Part of who you are is who you will be.”

Posted on February 18, 2026 by Brian D. Butler

Manifesto: The Mad Farmer Liberation Front by Wendell Berry Love the quick profit, the annual raise, vacation with pay. Want more of everything ready-made. Be afraid to know your neighbors and to die. And you will have a window in … Continue reading →

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I go unrecognized in paradise

Posted on February 8, 2026 by Brian D. Butler

Dean Young — “Scherzo”

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Once Upon a Time

Posted on February 6, 2026 by Brian D. Butler

 

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Why Are Americans Afraid of Dragons?

Posted on January 11, 2026 by Brian D. Butler

“In wondering why Americans are afraid of dragons, I began to realize that a great many Americans are not only anti-fantasy, but altogether anti-fiction. We tend, as a people, to look upon all works of the imagination either as suspect … Continue reading →

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Alice is back home

Posted on December 27, 2025 by Brian D. Butler

Christ Church Oxford and the Bodleian Libraries have become joint owners of an exceptionally rare first edition of Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, the most important of only 22 known surviving copies of the first and subsequently withdrawn edition. The book … Continue reading →

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there are precedents for mystical encounters of various kinds

Posted on December 12, 2025 by Brian D. Butler

“A man breaking his journey between one place and another at a third place of no name, character, population or significance, sees a unicorn cross his path and disappear. That in itself is startling, but there are precedents for mystical … Continue reading →

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And the 2025 lists begin

Posted on December 11, 2025 by Brian D. Butler

The staff of the New York Times Book Review choose the year’s top fiction and nonfiction titles. “The envelope, please: After a full year spent reading hundreds of books and meeting regularly to bicker — er, converse — about their … Continue reading →

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