Category Archives: Bates (Scott)

Everyperson’s Environmental E-Car

Scott Bates, cheerleading for solar power and electric cars.

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The Ballad of Bathtub Gin

“The Ballad of Bathtub Gin” looks back to the days of Appalachian moonshine.

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Where Are the Toys of Yesteryear?

Where are the toys of yesteryear? Such is the lament of this poem by Scott Bates.

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Drones Put Heaven in a Rage

This Scott Bates poem protesting aerial killing machines could apply to today’s drone program.

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One Thing He Carried through WWII: Poetry

Literature played a major role in my father’s World War II experiences.

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The Critic Sees No Farther than Behind

Here’s a poem challenging criticism that undermines the poet.

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No Room for Them in the (Holiday) Inn

In Scott Bates’s updated nativity scene, there is no room for Mary and Josephn in the Holiday Inn.

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A Hitchhiker’s Guide to Christmas

Applying “Hichhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy” to the nativity scene opens up interesting perspectives on the animals that are present.

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Why (Some) Americans Love Guns

Gun control is difficult because certain Americans have almost a sexual relationship with guns.

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A Solution to Nativity Scene Battles

The Christmas nativity scene is less Christian than devout Christians realize.

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Pan’s Call–The Return of the Repressed

Pan became a major figure for turn-of-the-century poets and artists.

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The Liberating Power of Yo-Yos

In this Scott Bates fantasy, a renegade scholar breaks library protocol with a bright red yo-yo.

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Autumn Striptease

As Scott Bates sees it, trees in autumn are involved in a joyous striptease.

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An Environmentalist’s Revenge Fantasy

Scott Bates proves an environmentalist’s revenge fantasy against those violating the earth.

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A Hunchback Dreams of Swallows

In this Scott Bates poem, a dream of flying frees us from life’s frustrations.

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An ABC of Radical Ecology

Scott Bates’s ABC of Radical Ecology calls for us to keep fighting to save the environment.

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A Golf Poem about Liberated Children

In protest against laboring children, Scott Bates imagines the letter “L” going on strike.

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A Snake That Refused to Be Used

This Scott Bates looks at Pentecostal snake handlers from the snake’s point of view.

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Moments of Perfection in the Sun

Scott Bates’s “The Perfect Toad” may be a fable about peak experiences.

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Theological Clerihews – Heaven & Mirth

The clerihew form can wittily articulate major theological questions.

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America’s Avian Maestro, the Mockingbird

Tom Robbins and Scott Bates regard the mockingbird as an emblem for the consummate artist.

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The Day Rabbits Attacked Napoleon

In honor of upcoming Earth Day, I share a poem based on an actual incidents where hundred of rabbits released to be hunted by Napoleon turned on the emperor’s party and routed them.

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March Madness, Frisbees, and Spring

In this Scott Bates poem, the poetry of basketball is surpassed by the poetry of frisbee throwing.

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Singing the Miracle of New Birth

“As the robin singeth after rain,” so are we all singing after the birth of my first grandchild.

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Fight Like Hell Till You Get to Heaven

A Scott Bates poem about Mother Jones may be timely as we see the rise of a leftwing populism.

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Syria’s Massacre of the Innocents

Updating Herod’s slaughter of the innocents, Scott Bates imagines a soldier who takes a principled stand and refuses to participate.

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Epiphany Sunday and the Arabian Nights

The Christian Feast of the Epiphany and the Arabian Nights come together in a fanciful Scott Bates poem about the three wise men passing through Baghdad on their way to see Jesus.

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Holly & Ivy Dance to the Music of the Moon

A Scott Bates version of the “Holly and Ivy” carol shows how multiple religious traditions blend seamlessly in Christmas rituals.

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Night before Christmas on the Moon

Scott Bates’s “The Night before Christmas on the Moon” delightfully sets Clement Moore’s beloved poem in a lunar landscape.

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Move with the Wind, Sleep under the Snow

Here’s a non-Christmas tree poem by Scott Bates for friends of the environment.

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A Poetic Skylark and an Introspective Snake

Two Scott Bates animal fables cast a skeptical eye on idealists seeking a transcendent truth.

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    Please feel free to e-mail me [rrbates (at) smcm (dot) edu]. I would be honored to hear your thoughts and questions about literature.

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