Poets, Prayers, and Radio Talk Show Hosts

A  Brief Review of Recent Popular Posts

Photo by Charles Kinnaird

Earlier this year my blog surpassed 600,000 page views (602,000 as of this date), so I figured it was time fora brief review of what’s happening at Not Dark Yet.

The Top Four Posts This Month

The top posts for the past month include two new ones and two old ones. My recollection of “Rush Limbaugh’s On-Air Reign” has been the most read piece this month. The second most read is an interfaith essay that was first posted during Ramadan in 2013, “The Lamps are Different but the Light is the Same.” 

Coming in at number 3 is “My Season with Dante,” a colorful account of my encounter with Dante’s Divine Comedy that began with an evening class at church and continued with my listening to the entire work on an audiobook. It was first posted in 2012 and includes illustrations by William Blake depicting the passage through Inferno, Purgatorio, and Paradiso.  

The fourth most popular post this month was my review of all the Inaugural poets from U.S. Presidential Inaugurations (there have only been six, and I make a tenuous claim to have heard all of them in real-time). With “The Presidential Inaugural Poem: Calling Us to Our Touchstones” you can see and hear each inaugural poet from Robert Frost to Amanda Gorman.

Recent Popular Posts

Some of you followed my series about growing up in the Jim Crow South. “Growing Up under Southern Apartheid” featured 10 personal essays that spanned my pre-school and elementary school days in which I tried to convey what it was like in the days of segregation. There is an eleventh essay about my grandfather and his encounter with the KKK back in the 1920s.

There is still a lot more to tell about growing up in the segregated South and I have plans to continue the memoir series at a later date. For an index to all the stories so far go to https://notdarkyet-commentary.blogspot.com/2020/10/index-for-growing-up-under-southern_6.html.

During the past year, as one would expect, there were many essays and poems about life during the pandemic which we continue to live with even as we are finding hope with the vaccine efforts. Some of my poems are in a book that my writing group has published, The Social Distance: Poetry in Response to COVID-19. You can read about that in my September post, “PoetryDuring Days of COVID.”

In the Days Ahead

In the coming month of April, I will feature a variety of poets reading their work in celebration of National Poetry Month. Not Dark Yet continues to feature music on Mondays, haiku on Saturdays, and personal essays during the week with humor and recipes tossed in as well. I hope you will find something that piques your interest there.

-

It's Still Not Dark Yet

Last week, Not Dark Yet surpassed 500,000 page-views. I am thankful for any visits made to these blog pages and would like to take this moment to highlight some of the more popular posts so far this year. 

My most popular essay this year is “A Place a Place of Gratitude.” In fact, since I posted it in January, it has continued to rank number one on the blog list of “Popular posts.” I don’t think any other post has remained in first place for that long (almost six months in the number one spot, and over 1200 page-views so far).

 
A re-post in February was spurred by our nation’s dealing with refugees. In the poem, “Emigres,” I attempt to offer some insight from the point-of-view of a refugee family.    

“Have We Become a Nation of Day Laborers?” takes a look into the state of work and employment, showing how “From college profs to the loading docks, we're seeing changes in the workplace.”  

“Pot Luck Sunday at the Weaker Brethren Community Church” takes a look at how one might approach those who hold stricter religious views.

“Opportunity’s Last Call” is a poem inspired by the final transmission of the Mars rover, “Opportunity.”

Helen McNicoll was a Canadian artist of the Impressionist movement. Her work inspired a series of haiku which I wrote for my Saturday Haiku feature. You can see that series listed with links to each haiku at “Canadian Artist Helen McNicoll.”

“Birmingham Bards & Brews” is a spoken word event that happens at the Birmingham Public Library on the first Friday night of each month (except December). I did a blog post about the event last March.

“Make a News Road” examines the possible influence of Spanish poet Antonio Machado in an episode of the new Star Trek series, Discovery.

So many of us were affected by the tragic fire that gutted the Notre Dame Cathedral. I composed a Maundy Thursday Prayer for the Notre Dame Cathedral in response to that event.

“Remembering Harper Lee” is a re-post in honor of the author’s birthday which looks at Nelle Lee as one who exemplified the classic hero’s journey.

“Why Pray?” takes a personal look at how liturgical prayer, as in the 1979 Prayer Book of the Episcopal Church, can shape one’s outlook for the better.

Thank you to all who stop to read some of what this blog has to offer. I have not even touched upon the recipes, music, and humor shared, so there is more to peruse when you have the time. Comments are welcome, and readership is always appreciated.

-

2016 – What was I thinking?!

I took a look back over my blog activity for the past year. On occasion, I have done year-end reviews by posting the top ten posts over the previous 12 months. This time I decided to look at each month and list the most popular post for that month. 

Here are the top posts for each month:

January – Where Grace Abounds - A reflection of my visit to Grace Episcopal Church in the Woodlawn area of downtown Birmingham, "Where Street and Altar Meet."

February – Living Beyond Cupid’s Arrow - A Valentine's Day posting about love, limerence, and human bonding.

March – Spirituality is Relational - A look back over one roller coaster of a week.

April – She Sat in Autumn - One of my favorite poems. A reflective memory of my grandmother.

May – Revisiting Our Town (a Mother’s Day Memory) - A Mother's Day post that is both a childhood memory and a reflection of Thornton Wilder's play.

June – Southern Nights and Stereotypes - A re-post which is both a childhood memory and a look at Rick Bragg's book, All Over but the Shoutin'.

July – Brave New World … At Breakfast - Another re-post. This one looking at how our work practices and on-the-go lifestyles may be diminishing our sense of community.

August – Saturday Haiku: Foggy Morning - One of my weekly haiku which got more views than anything else in August.

September – Two Poems for 9/11 - I shared one original poem and one by Adam Zagajewski, each written to commemorate the 9/11 attack on New York's Twin Towers.

October – The Return of Ol’ Possum - One of my "urban wildlife" experiences.

November – Do Not Grow Weary with Well Doing - My response to the Presidential election results.

December – Saturday Haiku: December - Another of my weekly haiku that received many views.

In 2016, I also had two projects that were done in a series of posts. One was an eight-part series done through the month of March featuring reviews of books by people I know. The other was my own creative expressions of poetry written in response to works by master artists. You can find link to each series in the titles below:

Friends Writing Good Books

Artsongs Series: Poetry Inspired by Great Works of Art


Thank you to all who have visited my blog. I hope that you will keep visiting in the year ahead.



-