This is the blog for the Bentari Project.
Saturday, May 08, 2021
A young girl made her way down to the beach after a powerful storm. There were piles of starfish everywhere. Now the tide was streaming out leaving the starfish marooned on the land. So the girl began gently tossing the starfish into the retreating surf. Then a man walked up and found her busy at work. Looking along the shore, he asked the little g...
Read full postThursday, January 28, 2021
Dad would be 98-years old today. He died in 1994, however. The heart attack got him just two-months after mom went. How I loved them. For dad, these are a few random memories—out of a million more. For laughs, lessons and so much more—these are thanks that I owe my dad. It was a happy novelty to find dad in bed on weekends after the war. He was the...
Read full postSunday, August 16, 2020
To find empathy in your heart, accept the reality of others. Then you see their suffering. Their pain is real. Bào Ninh’s The Sorrow of War allows this. [1] Kien was 14 when America used false pretenses to deploy its full military might against his tiny country, Vietnam. [2] Kien is the main character. He tells Bào Ninh’s story in this haunting aut...
Read full postFriday, July 10, 2020
When I was small, maybe 3 or 4, I was hugging Mirawami from behind. I was sad about something but holding her made everything better. For some reason I bit her and she shrieked remarkably loudly. She spun around and lifted me up by my arms. "Why did you do that, my son," she asked. This became my first memory of seeing her face in anger. "I don't k...
Read full postSaturday, May 16, 2020
As a River , by Sion Dayson. [1] The story owns the title. Only more. It makes a river of time. Each of us a boatman at a worn and ancient helm. The helm is both a teacher and a tool. The course of life, unkind. A history of wrong. Hold on and steer. We are in east Bannen, Georgia, 1944-1977, where black folks live. Many work in west Bannen, cleani...
Read full postTuesday, April 14, 2020
I have been afraid before. The clutch has gripped my breath. The flesh has risen. Cold has been my heart. At its core. But now the sky is flat. Our days fly past in silence. Birdsong, a tired memory. Listen. You cannot hear—Life is shut. Now “Afraid” has a new mask. “Somebody” is President! Ohmydeargod! The very wind is a weapon! Now deadly clouds ...
Read full postWednesday, April 01, 2020
Hummingbird update! On 3/29, I posted a photo of "nesting" birds. And I expressed concern for the tiny feathered family—what would become of them? They had built their nest in an ill-rated tree—scheduled for removal. The dog and I were out stretching legs today when I got worried again. The nest looked abandoned! Not to worry. Today's photos reveal...
Read full postSunday, March 29, 2020
Across the path from us, hummingbirds nest in a dogwood before its blooms can block their constant watch. The tree is listed for removal, and a grim race is joined by nestled eggs and a calendar. We watch the race hopefully, that would-be wings may test the sky. Pier beams under the tree roots are begging for repair. We watch the race with urgency....
Read full postMonday, January 20, 2020
Child Finder discerns the dark form of a man allowed to live wrong. “He lived a subterranean life, surprised at how quickly time passed even when you didn’t have much to do besides dream in the vast expanse between murder and hate.” Naomi, the Child Finder, is joined by her husband Jerome in this matchless story of love and fear. The Butterfly Girl...
Read full postThursday, January 09, 2020
Cal Claxton needed a vacation and he got a double bonus—a fishing paradise at the Oregon coast and the company of his daughter Claire. But these were expected. Neither expected the hidden bonus. It found them and it was a hog. They were fly-fishing for steelhead on the Millicoma River when Claire hooked the corpse of Howard Coleman—a corpse that dr...
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