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John Haines – City of Orphans
Given the current conflicts across this land and the earth, this timeless poem from the late John Haines conveys the words I have no voice for. How strange to think of those street sand vacant lots, the sandhills where we played and dug our trenches; the forts we built, the enemies we conjured to aim…
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Updated John Haines story
A few years ago I wrote a story inspired by John Haines titled “A Walk in the Woods With John Haines”. As his words and thoughts continue to provide guidance over the years, I return to this piece and update the images and feelings to reflect the experiences that have defined me. A Walk in…
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John Haines is Calling – Fables and Distances
As nature becomes essential to daily life and getting through the chaos, I have been thinking about John Haines. Some of my most-often used quotes come his book “Fables and Distances” and so I have started reading it again and am reminded the impact his writing has had on my outlook in life. Fables and…
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John Haines – A Winter Light
A Winter Light, by John Haines We still go about our lives in shadow, pouring the white cup full with a hand half in darkness. Paring potatoes, our heads vent over a dream— glazed window through which the long, yellow sundown looks. By candle or firelight your face still holds a mystery that once filled…
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John Haines – City of Orphans
I typically read and have been influenced by John Haines nature poems and memoirs, but this poem is timeless. How strange to think of those street sand vacant lots, the sandhills where we played and dug our trenches; the forts we built, the enemies we conjured to aim our stick-guns at, and then went home…
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Dogs of Summer #2
On a somewhat grey and dreary day we headed north to the fields and trails near the Wild River, the St. Croix. Alone on sandy trails well suited for horses, we circled the empty field through the forest and made our way to the river. Beneath the grey sky, we felt the presence of life,…
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Ice Child, by John Haines
Cold for so long, unable to speak, yet your mouth seems framed on a cry, or a stifled question. Who placed you here, and left you to this lonely eternity of ash and ice, and himself returned to the dust fields, the church and the temple? Was it God—the sun-god of the Incas, the imperial…
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Nature and Us – One and the Same
I’ve been continuing to read the book The Deep Ecology Movement. This includes an introduction to the movement and a collection of essays with varying thoughts and opinions. Along with finding many similarities to Buddhism, I feel this is a meaningful framework to express nature and humans, and the dependency of each on the other,…
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Author Focus – John Haines
I first learned of John Haines while taking a class at the Loft Literary Center a few years ago. From the first poem I was hooked. I have every book of his, some first editions, and one signed that I was fortunate to find. Mr. Haines also wrote many essays about nature, the world at…