Image Created by Copilot, Prompted by Michael B. Thomas Revising is going pretty well. I am blessed this summer semester to have only 20 students in two online classes. That means lots of time at the computer but much of it is idle time. Hooray! I have revised three poems this week and composed almost 50 pages of the rough draft of the next Dewey Lynn saga. If you haven't read the first three Dewey Lynn books, better get on it. This one promises to be a doozy, but you have to

A Stained Glass Window with No Religious Iconography Yes, it is true. Regarding the nature, content, and tone of the poems in Atheists and Empty Spaces, I have had several people ask me, "Michael, why are you so anti-religion?" Well, I am not anti-religion. I think that religion has played a significant role in developing communities of support for the weak, the poor, the downtrodden, and the hopeless and helpless. Religion has fostered many revolutionary ideas that raise the

Cherry with a Raindrop on it: Not This Year Well, I have revised a few more of the poems from Atheists and Empty Spaces. I cannot honestly tell you how many words, phrases, and lines were changed without looking in the book. Remember, even my saved document is different from the book because of the editors at Austin Macauley. In case you want to know, I still have seven or eight copies of that out-of-publication book. It will be interesting to look back and see the changes.

The Cover of the Unrevised Book: Out of Publication I have removed the footnotes as I revise Atheists and Empty Spaces though one reader, perhaps my most critical, commented that the footnotes were often more interesting than the poems. One footnote that I hesitate to leave out is the reason for the composition of Big Maggie McClain because it is so interesting and involves a famous person. You see, one day in the summer of 1981 or '82, my friend Glenn Hicklin and I had finis

The Spider Wort in the Front Yard Yes, the last post that I made was in January. That post got 3 views, so I guess not too many people have been waiting for another one. However, summer is upon us, I have small numbers in my online summer classes (May 26-June 24), and the previous two reasons have me writing again--rather haltingly, I must admit. I will be seeking a rhythm of writing that is successful because I still have the revisions of Atheist and Empty Spaces to complete

In Chains I hate to sound like I am saying this about every poem from Atheists and Empty Spaces that I revise, but, once again, this is one of my favorite poems. Not only does it have some cool rhythm and rhymes, but it has neat breaks in the rhythm. It clearly is not conversational, yet its subject makes more sense not sounding like conversation because it must be a form of interaction of a higher degree. What is that high-falutin' subject? Well, let me tell you. People ten

Sunrise over the Water I have no idea when I first wrote today's poem. It may have originally been in my old poetry notebook, the spiral one with the Space Van on the cover, the one that I wrote poems in, folded poems into, and carried with me through my whole life--until it was gone to who knows where. (I actually believe that someone stole it!) The original version of this poem might have been in that notebook, but it might not have. I could be dreaming the idea that this p

Light Shining Through a Stained Glass Window We may not all be done celebrating yet, but Christmas 2025 is now behind us, and we can move on into the new year. Speaking of the new year, I have revised another of the poems from Atheists and Empty Spaces , which I will share with you today. Hopefully, within this new year, I will get the entire book of poems revised and republished. As a reminder, I do still have copies of the Austin McCauley publication, and copies are still a

Dream-like Reflection of Sycamore Trees in Water Well, this poem from page 52 of Atheists and Empty Spaces (if you have the defunct Austin McCauley publication) took me a long time to revise. It is a fairly complicated poem written in Spenserian stanzas adapted somewhat by Keats, and any word changes or other revisions made sticking to that form very difficult. I do not believe that a particular form makes a poem, but choosing a form and not changing it can sure make a poet w

The Front and Back Cover of DLGA Yes, I am back to blogging, but this may be the last blog until Thanksgiving or Christmas break. I have over 120 students in six classes this semester. Three of those classes are online Comp I classes, and another two are seated Comp I and Comp II, so I spend most of my week days and weekends grading. Yep! Just grading! Anyhow, I am working on proofreading and editing Dewey Lynn Gets Arrested for the FOURTH time. Apparently, I am not getting

Mom, Dad, and Baby me Following the advice of my mentor and friend, Patrick Gillespie, I have removed all but the most pertinent...

I think that I have always loved the poem Carnalville because Kellie and I loved the show so much when we first watched the series...

I don't think that the ideas in this poem is hard to grasp unless you completely close your eyes to the issues. The ideas are inspired by...

Potential Cover for Dewey Lynn Gets Arrested Yes, sir or madam, you see that correctly! Dewey Lynn Gets Arrested is the fourth book that...

Wedded with My Memory I choose to unite with safe Memory, The only sense that yields at my request. She raises walls against my enemy,...

Those of you who regularly read my blog are aware that Austin Macauley publishers has decided to abandon the rights to publish my book...

My Three Books, All Published in the Last Month I would apologize for my absence from blogging, but I have at least three very good and...

Two Crows Stealing Food from a Blue Jay Why, oh, why have I not been blogging for a month now? I have been waiting. Walk with Words is...

Cartoon Crow Tugging at a Flower: Created by Google Gemini, edited by me. According to the UPS tracking app, the second proof of Walk...

A Crow Shivaree: Image by Google Gemini, altered and edited by me Well, dear readers, after Kellie and I both went over the first proof...