Eric Robert Nolan graduated from Mary Washington College in 1994 with a Bachelor of Science in Psychology. He spent several years a news reporter and editorial writer for the Culpeper Star Exponent in Culpeper, Virginia. His work has also appeared on the front pages of numerous newspapers in Virginia, including The Free Lance – Star and The Daily Progress. Eric entered the field of philanthropy in 1996, as a grant writer for nonprofit healthcare organizations.
Eric’s poetry has been featured by Dead Beats Literary Blog, Dagda Publishing, The International War Veterans’ Poetry Archive, and elsewhere. His poetry will also be published by Illumen Magazine in its Spring 2014 issue.
She walks in beauty, like the night
Of cloudless climes and starry skies;
And all that’s best of dark and bright
Meet in her aspect and her eyes;
Thus mellowed to that tender light
Which heaven to gaudy day denies.
One shade the more, one ray the less,
Had half impaired the nameless grace
Which waves in every raven tress,
Or softly lightens o’er her face;
Where thoughts serenely sweet express,
How pure, how dear their dwelling-place.
And on that cheek, and o’er that brow,
So soft, so calm, yet eloquent,
The smiles that win, the tints that glow,
But tell of days in goodness spent,
A mind at peace with all below,
A heart whose love is innocent!
Just a reminder — if you want to plan something special for Valentine’s Day, a friend of mine is helping to organize a really fun event in Troutville, Virginia. Details below; you can buy tickets right here.
When I was sixteen years old and working at McDonald’s, we would throw cheese at the break room ceiling like this. We tried other foods too (we had high hopes for the pickles), but I think cheese was the only reliable standby. Good times.
Actually … I might have been younger when I worked there. I would have been able to drive back and forth with a driver’s permit at sixteen, if memory serves? And McDonald’s had a van that picked up the younger employees who couldn’t drive.
Eric Robert Nolan, Author 