The poems were “At the Coffee Shop,” “All Our Faults Are Fallen Leaves” and “Fawning Haiku.” You can find them right here.
Thank you, Editor-in-Chief Faiyaj Islam Fahim, for featuring my work at this outstanding literary resource for Europe and beyond.
At right is the Taubman Museum of Art.
Entranceway Park, Roanoke, Virginia. The butterflies were monarchs, I think.
Why are they called “butterflies,” anyway? Did some weirdo try spreading them across a slice of bread at one point?
“The Sting” (1973) was probably the first movie I ever saw starring Robert Redford; it was a family favorite that made the rounds on television in the late 1970’s and early 1980’s. (Though I will note here that “A Bridge Too Far” (1977), was also a family favorite, and also circulating on television in roughly the same time. Redford was in that film too.)
I remember asking my father how the ruse worked for that guy in the beginning who fell for the handkerchief trick. And I remember the movie’s theme music (Floyd Cramer’s “The Entertainer”) being an impossible earworm.
The next movie I saw starring Redford would probably be “All the President’s Men” (1976) when I was 14 or so; that was with my uncle John Muth, who had a wealth of such treasures on VHS. After that, it was the wonderful “Sneakers” (1992) in the theater in my college town of Fredericksburg, Virginia.
What I remember about Redford is just how goddam likeable he was in every role. It was uncanny — there was just something about him. It’s kind of like Carey Grant was so inexplicably suave, or how Harrison Ford always seems so sincere. I’ll bet something like that can’t be learned in an acting class.
Rest easy, Mr. Redford.
By the way, I am linking below to Rotten Tomatoes Classic Trailers and MovieClips on Youtube.
September 2025 — last night’s dusk.
These cell phone videos don’t really do the scene justice. They looked soooo cool soaring and circling as a flock. If you listen closely during the videos, you can hear them chirping.
There was a parade through town that was led by firemen. And later I think I heard church bells. I’m pretty sure it was a remembrance of 9/11.
This really is a wonderful little city.
Complete strangers will give you huge smile and a fist bump and say, “Keep on rockin’, Baby.”
I swear to you, New York is not like this.
I indeed WILL keep on rockin’, Sir. Thank you.
I’m honored today to see cc&d magazine publish my poem “The Beach House, Early Spring” in its latest anthology, The Storm Inside. The best way to read my poem (should you wish to) is to scroll down at the link below and click my name in the table of contents. 🙂
Or, if you would like to purchase a copy of the book, you can find it right here at Amazon.
Thanks once again to Editor in Chief Janet Kuypers for allowing me to see my work showcased in cc&d!
I am so pleased to share here that Poets Anonymous will yet again publish my work in its annual Gathering anthology; my poem “As Silver as the Stars You Tried to Rival” will appear in Gathering 2025.
You can preorder a copy of the book right here at the Local Gems Press website. The launch event will be on August 27th in Chantilly, Virginia. (Details are at the website.)
This will be the third year running that Poets Anonymous has selected my writing for this annual collection. I am grateful to Lesley Tyson and Megan McDonald of Poets Anonymous, along with James P. Wagner of the Bards Initiative.
So here’s the plan — I’m gonna move back to my college town of Fredericksburg, Virginia, and start a poetry group there.
Gonna call it “Fred Poets Society.”
(I already e-mailed my old writing prof and told him he had to be our Mr. Keating.)
Eric Robert Nolan, Author 