Tag Archives: Illness

Help! My Mom’s Having Trouble Reading

In today’s post I seek advice for a woman who wants to keep reading but has had a stroke.

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Sickness Strikes Again

I my recent bout with Covid, passages from “Heart of Darkness” and “Rime of the Ancient Mariner” came to mind.

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Mother and Son in a Daily Dance of Pain

As I lift up my mother from her sick bed, I sometimes think of Roethke’s “My Papa’s Waltz,” even though the situations are markedly different.

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The Sun Rises in Spite of Everything

A Derek Mahon poem read on Irish state television assures us that “Everything Is Going to Be All Right.”

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Illness in 19th Century Lit

19th century literature is filled with images of illness. Reading it should make us grateful to the advances in medical science.

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Once There Was Light

I turned to Jane Kenyon’s “Having It Out with Melancholy” when a friend’s illness suddenly took a turn for the worse.

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Clifton Poems Make Connection Possible

In a recent event honoring the memory of Lucille Clifton, poet Toi Derricotte read a poem about how Clifton’s poetry opened up a relationship with the mother of a sick child. Here I share Derricotte’s poem as well as the poems she read to the mother and examine why they had the effect they did.

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For Hillary, Witch Hunts Never End

Alexandra Petri of the Washington Post alludes to Arthur Miller’s “The Crucible” as she wonders whether Hillary Clinton should be subjected to witch trials to figure out what’s wrong with her.

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Crohn’s Disease and the Mariner’s Agony

A student with Crohn’s disease found a kindred soul in Coleridge’s Ancient Mariner.

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