Category Archives: Countries

My Memorable Meeting with Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II

Posted on September 15, 2022 by wordcloud9

by IRENE FOWLER, Contributor Priscilla Quoa, a student of Vivian Fowler Memorial College, Lagos, Nigeria, won the 2003 Commonwealth Essay Competition. Stuart Mole, former Director-General of the Royal Commonwealth Society, thought very highly of Priscilla’s achievement, and decided that Priscilla, … Continue reading →

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Vladimir the Vicious

Posted on August 11, 2022 by wordcloud9

by IRENE FOWLER, Contributor Upon being informed that her famished and desperate peasant compatriots could not afford their staple diet of bread, the Queen of France Marie-Antoinette (1755-1799) allegedly retorted – “let them eat cake.” The dire situation of looming mass-starvation … Continue reading →

Posted in Africa, Russia | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Prayer on the Football Field

Posted on June 28, 2022 by wordcloud9

by Nona Blyth Cloud Among the attacks on the Constitution this week by the six extremist Justices on the U.S. Supreme Court, they decided that a football coach must have the right to pray on the 50 yard line of … Continue reading →

Posted in United States | Tagged , , , , , , | 3 Comments

America The Great

Posted on June 2, 2022 by wordcloud9

by IRENE FOWLER, Contributor Ceaseless onslaughts mounted against the ramparts of democracy characterizing factions of the body politic, and a significant portion of American society, will undoubtedly have existential implications for global democracy. The normally placid and unflappable U.S. Attorney-General … Continue reading →

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TCS: May 30 2022 – To Die for One’s Country

Posted on May 30, 2022 by wordcloud9

Good Morning ____________________________ Welcome to The Coffee Shop, just for you early risers on Monday mornings. This is an Open Thread forum, so if you have an off-topic opinion burning a hole in your brainpan, feel free to add a comment. ____________________________ “It’s … Continue reading →

Posted in Poetry, The Coffee Shop, United States | Tagged , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Nothing Has Changed

Posted on May 25, 2022 by wordcloud9

I first posted this poem here at Flowers for Socrates in 2015. Cataracts of blood have been spilled since then, and still, nothing has changed. Move on, nothing to see here – just another mass murder in America. To read … Continue reading →

Posted in Murder, Poetry, United States | Tagged , | 3 Comments

A Poem for the Birthday of Lars Gustafsson

Posted on May 17, 2022 by wordcloud9

Lars Gustafsson(1936 –2016) was born in Västerås, Sweden on May 17. A Swedish poet, novelist, and scholar, he published his first novel in 1959, and his first poetry collection the following year. Some of his poetry collections have been published … Continue reading →

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Truth is More Powerful than Hate

Posted on April 20, 2022 by wordcloud9

Yesterday, a member of the Michigan state senate gave a speech which struck right at the hate-filled heart of right-wing extremism and deception.  Her name is Mallory McMorrow – it’s a name worth remembering, because I’m hoping she will soon … Continue reading →

Posted in Child Abuse, Democracy, Government, Heroism, Michigan, Politics, Social Justice, State Government, United States | Tagged | Comments Off on Truth is More Powerful than Hate

Russian Oligarchy: Voyage of the Damned

Posted on April 7, 2022 by wordcloud9

by IRENE FOWLER, Contributor Anna Akhmatova (1889-1966) pen name of the Russian poet Anna Andreyevna Gorenko, who was born in Odessa, to a Ukrainian naval engineer and a mother descended from Russian nobility. She married poet Niklay Gumilev in 1910, … Continue reading →

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The Colour of Civilization

Posted on March 31, 2022 by wordcloud9

by IRENE FOWLER, Contributor “Tyranny will make an entire population into readers of poetry.” –Joseph Brodsky Part Of Speech by Joseph Brodsky …and when “the future” is uttered, swarms of mice rush out of the Russian language and gnaw a piece of … Continue reading →

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