In the back of the bargain store,where glassware clinks softlyand a cracked lamp throwsits yellow pool on the shelf,I find a gargoyleno bigger than a loaf of bread. Its concrete skin is pitted,its nose chipped,its mouth set in a permanent scowlthat somehow looks more like concern. I turn it in my hands.A little dust lifts … Continue reading Revisionist Poetry – “Little Guardian in the Thrift Store” – Bargain Store Gargoyle, v.4
T.A.E.’s Book Review – The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein
Shel Silverstein’s The Giving Tree is one of the most deceptively simple books in modern children’s literature. Beneath its spare line drawings and uncluttered prose lies a fable of extraordinary emotional and philosophical complexity. At first glance, the story appears to be about love, generosity, and gratitude. Yet its quiet ache invites far deeper questions: … Continue reading T.A.E.’s Book Review – The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein
“Crown Swipe: Royal Clout” – Poetcore Shakespeare: The Bard for Gen Z
(T.A.E.’s LitBites) – A modern retelling of Henry VI, Part 3 by William Shakespeare Alright — picture England as a giant group chat that exploded. The main thread? Who gets the crown. No one can agree. King Henry’s inbox is full of SOS messages but he’s checked out: kind, dreamy, zero vibes for politics. His queen, … Continue reading “Crown Swipe: Royal Clout” – Poetcore Shakespeare: The Bard for Gen Z
Revisionist Poetry – “Bargain Store Relic” – Bargain Store Gargoyle, v.3
In the cathedral of a bargain shop,dust gathers like incensein the corners. There, small as a fist,a gargoyle crouches—not carved from the proud cliff of historybut cast in ersatz concrete,its face half-feral, half-sad. Still, it keepsthe old architecture of dread:the hooked brow,the lip curled against weather,the starethat seems to have survivedcenturies of rain. I lift … Continue reading Revisionist Poetry – “Bargain Store Relic” – Bargain Store Gargoyle, v.3
T.A.E.’s Book Review – Where the Sidewalk Ends by Shel Silverstein
Shel Silverstein’s Where the Sidewalk Ends is one of those rare books that seems to belong equally to childhood and to literary criticism. On the surface, it is a mischievous, whimsical collection of poems for young readers, full of absurd inventions, talking creatures, impossible requests, and comic punishments. Yet beneath its playful exterior lies a … Continue reading T.A.E.’s Book Review – Where the Sidewalk Ends by Shel Silverstein
“Crown Crashers — when the kingdom goes viral” – Poetcore Shakespeare: The Bard for Gen Z
(T.A.E.’s LitBites) – A modern retelling of Henry VI, Part 2 by William Shakespeare Okay, picture this: a kingdom that used to be the main character in everyone’s group chat has turned into a chaotic group DM where nobody can agree on anything. The king — Henry — is exhausted, spaced out, and honestly kind of … Continue reading “Crown Crashers — when the kingdom goes viral” – Poetcore Shakespeare: The Bard for Gen Z
Revisionist Poetry – “The Small Guardian” – Bargain Store Gargoyle, v.2
Why are we drawn to gargoyles,those stone monstersperched on cathedrals and towers,leaning over usas if listening? Their warped mouths,their fierce and weathered faces,hold our gaze.We imagine the livesthey have witnessed,the old weather they have endured,the silence they keep. Then, in a bargain store’s dusty corner,I find one reduced to hand size:an ersatz concrete gargoyle,a shabby … Continue reading Revisionist Poetry – “The Small Guardian” – Bargain Store Gargoyle, v.2
T.A.E.’s (The Adaptable Educator) Book Review – The Ultimate Basket Book: A Cornucopia of Popular Designs to Make by Lyn Siler
The Ultimate Basket Book: A Cornucopia of Popular Designs to Make (2006) presents itself as an expansive, practical craft volume: it combines The Basket Book and Handmade Baskets, adds ten extra projects, and includes new colour photography. The edition is listed as a 192-page book published by Lark Books in New York, and the available … Continue reading T.A.E.’s (The Adaptable Educator) Book Review – The Ultimate Basket Book: A Cornucopia of Popular Designs to Make by Lyn Siler
Revisionist Poetry – “The Day the Stones Learned to Balance” – Uncertain Sculptures, v.6 (A cosmic daydream conversation…)
Note: I reworked this one while reading Italo Calvino's masterpiece, "The Complete Cosmicomics". I got inspired to write an absurdist conversation between the builder/narrator and... well, everything else in the poem... At first, the river had no opinion about stones.It simply carried them, as it carried everything else,with the distant manner of a clerkwho has … Continue reading Revisionist Poetry – “The Day the Stones Learned to Balance” – Uncertain Sculptures, v.6 (A cosmic daydream conversation…)
T.A.E.’s (The Adaptable Educator) Book Review – The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich by William L. Shirer
William L. Shirer’s The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich is not merely a history of Nazi Germany; it is an act of historical witnessing written with the urgency of a moral reckoning. First published in 1960, the book has the scale and propulsion of an epic, but its true power lies elsewhere: The … Continue reading T.A.E.’s (The Adaptable Educator) Book Review – The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich by William L. Shirer
The New Renaissance Mindset 