Author Archives: Assistant Director

Steven Ratiner, Arlington’s Poet Laureate, is today’s guest blogger. The Jewish Passover; Christianity’s Easter; Islamic Ramadan; Hindu’s Holi; the Wiccan Ostara; the April festival referred to as Buddha’s Birthday; and countless others. One aspect of the holiness inherent in these … Continue reading →

Steven Ratiner, Arlington’s Poet Laureate, is today’s guest blogger. “The one constant through all the years, Ray, has been baseball.” And right now, if you’re like me, you’re recalling the smell of movie popcorn and reciting the lines along with … Continue reading →

Steven Ratiner, Arlington’s Poet Laureate, is today’s guest blogger. “Americans had put on blindfolds when they should have put on masks.” The bitter quip comes from Nicholas A. Christakis’ recent book Apollo’s Arrow: The Profound and Enduring Impact of Coronavirus … Continue reading →

Steven Ratiner, Arlington’s Poet Laureate, is today’s guest blogger. It’s a paradox: every poem is an otherness.  It represents a point-of-view, personal history, approach to language, rhythmic sensibility, dance with despair and embrace of beauty – all of which are wholly distinct … Continue reading →

Steven Ratiner, Arlington’s Poet Laureate, is today’s guest blogger. The elegy presents us with a curious amalgam: the ascendant eye anchored to the leaden heart; the privacy of grief enacted upon a public stage; an attempt to grasp the evanescent … Continue reading →

Steven Ratiner, Arlington’s Poet Laureate, is today’s guest blogger. Sonnet.  To some, the word itself is a pure musicality, conjuring what’s often thought of as the jewel of Western poetry.  To others – who perhaps endured less-than-cherished high school English classes (unlucky … Continue reading →

Steven Ratiner, Arlington’s Poet Laureate, is today’s guest blogger. “When you die, God and the angels will hold you accountable for all the pleasures you were allowed in life that you denied yourself.”  My wife cut out this anonymous quote from … Continue reading →

Steven Ratiner, Arlington’s Poet Laureate, is today’s guest blogger. If you’re not familiar with the work of Afaa Michael Weaver – award-winning poet, fiction writer, educator, and soon-to-be memoirist – you might want to dive right in to the three … Continue reading →