Riehlife Poem-of-the-Day:”Basho & the Crickets,” by Stephen Kuusisto

“Basho & the Crickets” is Riehlife’s poem of the day written by Stephen Kuusisto–Professor, Author, Speaker, Poet, Blogger, and Disability Advocate. With his guide dog Nira, he roams the world giving readings and workshops–when he’s not teaching at the Iowa Writing Workshop. Here’s how the poem and Stephen came in my life, and then bobbed…

Riehlife Poem of the Day:Stephen A. Kuusisto’s “Basho and the Crickets”

Last July I received both the ultimate compliment and the ultimate joy. A very fine poet, Stephen Kuusisto wrote a poem especially for Riehlife. His email that day was the jewel in my inbox. Strangely the day I received his email, I was in Northern California in an internet cafe…back in my old stomping grounds…

Poets’ Dinner in Iowa City: Auntie Mary is cooking!

One of the better side benefits from dedicated blogging is that you make friends. Sometimes, very good friends. If you aren’t a pro-blogger, you meet others similarly involved in this labor of love. I’ve been lucky in the friends Riehlife has attracted to our village. Two such friends, as yet unseen, are poet Stephen Kuusisto…

Clinton-Obama Spat provokes “1789 contribution campaign,” Alan Brody makes call to action after Clintons ignite a political brawl, reflecting on damage to Party and Country, and worrying over how another Clinton presidency might use extraordinary powers Bush has gathered in the White House. Brody calls for 1 million $17.89 donations to Obama (in honor of Constitution’s adoption date) to send a message to political attack dogs Republican and Democratic alike: “We want a new politics, and a President who will return to our Government civility, the rule the of law, and the integrity of our Constitution.”

It is from numberless diverse acts of courage and belief that human history is shaped. Each time a man stands up for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot of others, or strikes out against injustice, he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope, and crossing each other from a million different centers of…