The Serpents Approach the Temple Image created by Copilot 365. Prompt by Michael B. Thomas Since I am removing all footnotes from Atheists and Empty Spaces, let me help readers here by giving a very brief version of the story of Laocoon (pronounced "lay-oh-koh-ahn") as found in Virgil's Aeneid. I'll get some research help here. From Greek Mythology Notes: A Trojan priest of Apollo, Laocoon warned the Trojans not to accept the wooden horse, hurling his spear at it

Harlan Carves Bessie's Casket as His Wife Looks On: Created by Copilot 365. Prompt by Michael B. Thomas As I recall, I created this long folk ballad from several different poems by sticking the ideas all together. I think at one time I had an idea for the music to which this might be sung. If you are a musician, and you come up with a tune, please let me know. I would be very, very interested in a collaboration. Several readers of Atheists and Empty Spaces have asked me who t

Emma Jean Painting the Rider image created by Microsoft Copilot. Prompt by Michael B. Thomas Damn it! I have been working on the poem Emma Jean from Atheists and Empty Spaces Revised for over a week, and as I got ready to publish it this morning, I feel like I haven't significantly changed anything. Yes, I have revised a lot. Some of the verses are completely different. However, the poem is not improved. It's just different. I chickened out on my claim that I would st

Daedalus, Icarus, Theseus, the Minotaur, and Ariadne: A Copilot produced image from a prompt by me. Man, oh, man! In the last blog, Copilot did such a great job creating an image to go along with my poem about nature that I thought I would give it another chance to create an image for me today. Well, it sucked at its job in this instance, and after three attempts, I came back to this highly flawed original. What is wrong with this image. Oh, about a dozen things. Daedalus and

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...