Social Commentary

Carol Bly, that deep-thinking, acerbic Minnesota essayist, once wrote about “thinking things over at Christmas.” She was living then with her husband, the poet Robert Bly and their children, on the western Minnesota prairie. There’s something about facing wide stretches … Continued

He sat at the edge of holiday chat, bent forward as if he wanted to catch the drift, but talking more with his face than his voice. When the subject turned to health, he revealed that he was a nurse. … Continued

He was carrying a sign, standing beside the inside turn before you entered the freeway. I didn’t have to read the sign; I knew what he wanted. Money for food. A few months ago someone who looked like a woman … Continued

To some, such a notion might seem like heresy, but lately, I’m repositioning myself vis-a-vis the canonical figures of Christmas. I want to add a Mother Christmas. No, not in Father’s sleigh. He can soar with his huge pack of … Continued

I, who had only a single pregnancy and never wanted another, am far from one to talk. But there was a girl in my college class who went to New York for an abortion. In the details I heard, it … Continued

I Looked the part. Heavy hair that framed the sides of my face like spaniel ears, large dark eyes which by third grade would peer through blue-rimmed glasses, and a rather heavy gait since I wore orthopedic shoes. How could … Continued