42 Comments
May 21, 2023Liked by Greg Olear

The pen is mightier than the sword ✍🏻

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Always!

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Pete Seeger- Die Gedanken Sind Frei 🗽

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dbwQXVcbkU0

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If I was meant to be controlled, I would have come with a remote. 😉

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May 21, 2023Liked by Greg Olear

Greg, I’ve been reading you for a very long time and just subscribed. Why? This write up made me cry. Don’t be sad. Crying is good. Hang on: we are doing it.

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Thanks so much, Carol. Crying is very good. For me, half the joy of poetry is in its ability to move me to tears. Thanks so much for subscribing, which I very much appreciate.

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In the world of "LETTERS" Greg is ..Him...my mother beat me at Scrabble once, with a word I thought she concocted "ONER" nope it's a real word ..look it up..Greg is a Oner☑️💙✍️✒️

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Thank you, Katie! And: I did NOT know that word. Very hard to stump me with words, and you and your mom managed!

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She was crafty I have to admit,and have used that word VERY sparingly.. can't remember,who it was,I gave that title to.🎸🎸🤔 wear it proudly..we need a Oners Society,and a far more inclusive Skeptics Society..☑️☑️☑️💙🇺🇸 please Prevail Democracy

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Ps..I don't consider myself a Oner😆

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May 21, 2023Liked by Greg Olear

Wow, Greg. Truly sublime.

Thank you!

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Thanks, William!

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May 21, 2023Liked by Greg Olear

Thank you...just, " Thank you." ;)

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Thanks, Bonnie!

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"Artistic power endures..." I am grateful to you for pointing this out, Greg, especially after the grim news you have highlighted this past week through Prevail and Brynn Tannehill on Five/8. So, in "retaliation" I've hunkered down and continue my postcard writing, blocking out all else but the belief that the "many will overcome the money." In a nod to the artists you allude to, my postcards are a collection of works by Cheryl Willis Hudson first published in "Brave. Black. First." They will be going to Black women voters in southeastern Virginia, encouraging them to vote in the primary this June. I was blown away when I opened the box to find images that could pass for oil paintings! The women illustrated on the cards comprise the gamut, from the famous to the "never heard of" in history.

https://www.cherylwillishudson.com/about

As an example...Faith Ringgold, Painter, sculptor, and educator: "My process is designed to give us 'colored folk' and women a taste of the American dream straight up."

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That's awesome, Lynell. What a great way to channel and process the grim news. (And there was a lot of grim news this week for sure.) Thank you for sharing this!

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We have to meet.

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I loved this. Shelley is a favorite of mine, as well. Richard Holmes biography of Shelley is one of my more memorable books. Here is something amusing that a Facebook acquaintance of mine shared after the Tucker Carlson news:

"My name is Tuckermandias, Host of Hosts;

Look on my smirk, ye Mighty, and despair!"

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Thanks for the lol

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AI is mightier than the pen.

I saw this quote this morning from one Allen - just Allen - in a conversation with Steve Martin.

"We've come full circle with AI, Steve. Soon folks will be using it for content, but then going in and adding these things and other grammar or spacing errors to cover their AI tracks. Sloppy is the new alibi."

The real reflection is: can AI write poetry, much less poetry on the level of Shelley? I don't think so right now, and it may be generations before AI can, because the goal is not perfection per se but reflection and thought and emotional projection.

AI doesn't have a heart and without heart, you can't do poetry. Somehow that made me feel better.

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Are we sure "Allen" isn't just AI? ; )

To paraphrase "Fish Called Wanda:"

OTTO: AI bots don't write poetry!

WANDA: Yes they do, Otto, they just don't understand it.

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Great observation.

Allen very well could be: not just any bot, don't you know.

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May 21, 2023Liked by Greg Olear

Magnificent piece Greg. My apologies for cancelling my paid subscription but we're having to tighten our belts significantly. I will continue to follow you and return when situations improve. Thanks!

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Thanks, Helen. No worries at all...I hope everything improves.

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I get it.

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May 21, 2023Liked by Greg Olear

Excellent! You continue to bring an appreciation for poetry to me that I've never had before, Greg. And I got a fit of laughter, imagining Elon Musk tweeting:

‘My name is Musk, King of Twitter;

Look on my Works, ye Mighty, and despair!’

Funny because he's Elmo.

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Thanks, Steve!

Round the decay

Of that colossal Wreck, boundless and bare

The checks of blue have all but gone away.

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May 21, 2023Liked by Greg Olear

Certainly a strong stroker of words in a swimming world.

Claire

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I read that as "Stoker," and I was like, "That's Dracula, not Frankenstein!"

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May 21, 2023Liked by Greg Olear

People talk about that one teacher they had that made a huge difference in their life. In my whole life I’ve never had a truly outstanding teacher, and I have two masters degrees. And because in the 1950s—before Sputnik—most tests were multiple choice, I managed to get ‘A’s in literature without reading anything. Thanks, Greg, for being my cherished Lit teacher!

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Thanks so much, Earl! I'm glad you're getting something out of these pieces, which are so fun for me to write.

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That is too bad. I have had at least 6 wonderful teachers from grad school to grad school.

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May 21, 2023Liked by Greg Olear

The largest stone monument on Earth is the Great Pyramid of Khufu. Yet the only likeness* we have of this pharaoh, who lived 4,600 years ago is about 3 inches tall. The irony cannot be mistaken. The great works of art, especially literature and music, will endure as long humankind does, and will eventually surpass the longevity of the Great Pyramid, even if the likenesses of their creators do not. The same cannot be said of the grasping grifting garrulous Grinches of our time, or any time yet to come.

*https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khufu_Statuette

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Perfect comment, John. Thank you.

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founding

Swish Swish Bysshe. Another one in the basket. Kindness prevails!

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Kindness does!

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Stroker like in swimming

Breaststroke for example

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Shelley, Yeats, TS Elliot...

Writers & poets to learn and live by a life time over, no doubt.

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