Author Archives: Robin Bates

Would Willy Loman Be a Trump Supporter?

By Robin Bates | Published: April 25, 2024

Donald Trump as Willy Loman? Well, both are dreamers. Only one of them, however, is cruel.

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Toad and Trumpian Politics

By Robin Bates | Published: April 24, 2024

Many of Trump’s primary opponents have behaved like Toad after a motor car runs over his gypsy caravan.

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A Thieves Guild to Manage Crime

By Robin Bates | Published: April 23, 2024

Pratchett uses his Thieves Guild to satirize those who think perfection in our society is achievable.

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The House Speaker’s Théoden Moment

By Robin Bates | Published: April 22, 2024

House Speaker Mike Johnson had a Théoden moment when it came to Ukraine aid. I explore the parallels.

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The World Calls to You Like Wild Geese

By Robin Bates | Published: April 21, 2024

For Earth Day, an Oliver poem that lays out the first principle of environmental activism: love the earth.

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Ask Not for Whom the Bush Burns

By Robin Bates | Published: April 20, 2024

In this Passover poem, Chaya Lester calls us to have the courage to leave traumatic relationships.

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In a Dante-esque Prison of His Own Making

By Robin Bates | Published: April 18, 2024

Trump’s suffering the the Manhattan courtroom is his own version of Dante’s Inferno.

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Mary Oliver on Frog (and Human) Sex

By Robin Bates | Published: April 17, 2024

Mary Oliver captures the magic of April in these two sexually-charged frog poems.

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Poetry’s Role in the 2019 Indian Protests

By Robin Bates | Published: April 16, 2024

Poetry has been a powerful ally of Indian Muslims protesting Modi’s Hindu nationalism.

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