Articles written by Kerry Michael Wood

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About me - Kerry Michael Wood

I am a graduate of Yale University with a Master's degree in English. I am busily retired and live in Pacific Grove, CA. I am attempting to market my self-published memoir, "Past Imperfect, Present Progressive. I spend much of my spare time at the computer

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Creative Writing > Poetry Poetry: Writing: 7 of 505
Sonnet OneWhen gray hours loom, I hide away and write.I trip all over unpoetic feet,craft metaphors arcane and recondite,expose my heart with candor indiscreet.Poetry requires the pensive mood.My mind's odd clutter yields forgotten toys.Like mice, my furtive fancies oft intrude,and measured syllables resound with voice.Then i... More..
Arts & Humanities > Thoughts on Writing Examples of metaphors and how to use them: 1 of 35
A metaphor is an implied comparison of things basically unlike one another. When Paul Simon writes, "I am a rock. I am an island," we know that he is not penning a literal truth. Rocks and islands don't write or sing songs; however, the objects selected convey meaning that has more emotional appeal than any literary self-desc... More..
Arts & Humanities > Poets & Poetry Is free verse really poetry?: 1 of 31
Of course, free verse is poetry. As a debate topic, this rates right up there with Does Macy's Sell Pantyhose. To say that free verse is not poetry is to say that Walt Whitman, the father of American free verse, was not a poet at all but just wrote prose with odd line breaks and lots of repetition. As a retired English teach... More..
Arts & Humanities > Poets & Poetry Poetry analysis: The Raven, by Edgar Allan Poe: 1 of 26
Poe earned a bit less than 10 dollars for this poem, which is one of the most famous in American literature. The author was often asked to recite it at literary gatherings and loved to oblige. He would first request for the stage lights to be turned down. His recitation was so dramatic that his audience thought they could hea... More..
Sports & Recreation > Sports & Recreation (Other) Best of 2008: Athlete: 1 of 26
Most people will write that the outstanding athlete of 2008 is Michael Phelps and offer as proof his eight Olympic gold medals. I cast my vote for the Jamaican sprinter with the descriptive surname Bolt. I only wish I could come up with some obscure foreign language in which the man's given name, Usain, could be shown to mean... More..
Creative Writing > Reflections Reflections: A kiss: 1 of 22
KissesA while ago my dog sidled up to my big easy chair and licked my elbow. I knew exactly what that meant. She had been seated before me for some minutes, staring at me unblinkingly and hypnotically with her deep brown eyes. I had ignored her and continued to read my paperback thriller of the moment.The little tongue lap on... More..
Arts & Humanities > Poets & Poetry Poetry analysis: When I Consider How My Light is Spent, John Milton: 1 of 20
Though blind when he composed his greatest poetry, John Milton could think in iambic pentameter. Over a period of four to five years he dictated to one or another of his daughters the epic poem Paradise Lost. A shorter sequel, Paradise Regained, and the drama Samson Agonistes followed soon after. Ludwig van Beethoven, stone d... More..
Food & Drink > Food & Drink (Other) Thoughts on food and beverages: 4 of 76
One of my most vivid recollections of Greece is set in the port city of Piraeus. I haven't checked the recent guidebooks of Rick Steves, or the Lonely Planet, but in the mid-1960s Fielding and Fodor were ecstatic about a tavern and grocery store named Vasellina's. It was then a small and simple restaurant in a noncommercial a... More..
Arts & Humanities > Poets & Poetry Poetry analysis: To a Mouse, by Robert Burns: 1 of 19
A far cry from the urban-dwelling poets of The Age of Reason, "Bobbie" Burns was a man of the soil. Until his mid-teens he worked on the farms of the lowlands of Scotland. By his early 20s he was a veteran of love affairs and a regular of the local taverns.He found time to journey through the backwoods areas of northern Engla... More..
Education > High School Humanities The making of an English teacher: 1 of 16
I never liked being called "bookish," but I have been hearing it ever since since primary school years. Grades 1 through 3 I boarded at a Catholic military school.In the Juniors Yard there was a cabinet to which Sister Cristina had a key. In it we kept any privately owned toys or equipment such as baseball gloves, balls, tops... More..