Being under the weather is never a pleasant experience, but one advantage, if it can be called that, is that it magically puts extra time on one’s hands which was never there before. So, when I found myself housebound in
O Afghanistan!
Kabul has fallen. Lacking cable TV at home (a conscious decision), I woke up before the crack of dawn this morning (August 16, 2021) to be able to watch the 5:00 AM news on the BBC (my only reliable international
Shini-tai (死に体)
Shini-tai (死に体) When will you laugh again? Or smile that impish smile? We wrestled first with the miles And the ocean between us. Then, stepped in the pandemic, The gigantic, elephantine sumotori, Slamming our puny selves, And pushing and shoving
Under Nature’s Heel
Under Nature’s Heel As a schoolkid, I scoffed When I read of saffron monks Sweeping the ground before them, Lest they step unawares on ants. Earthworms basking In the morning sun, On the warm cemented path That splits the cold,
The Celestial Dandelion
The Celestial Dandelion You, delicate orb Of distilled beauty, That is gone by dusk, Or a careless step. Wordless you hold In your dainty globe, More wisdom than A million tomes. You beam at those Three score and tens Who
April Showers
April Showers Shoots sprout through, lancing The winter-hardened earth, Sodden by spring rains. Suppressed remorses breach The stout retaining walls, And rivulets seep down. April was Eliot’s cruellest month – Now I know why. © Abie Alexander Greenbelt, MD
My Window on the World
My Window on the World As I part the curtains, There you are, Amongst the treetops, Golden, warm, and bright. Butterflies flit about, As bird calls And insect chirps Dim the fluorescent hum. This window Is my morning news –
An Apple and A Samsung
It was with some hesitation that I packed an apple and a banana (there was not going to be any in-flight service because of the pandemic) in my laptop bag before heading for the airport at the crack of dawn.
Kafka and Hawthorne in the Time of Covid – A Personal Experience
One of the most poignant scenes in literature is in Kafka’s Metamorphosis, where Gregor Samsa’s parents, who are heartbroken and embarrassed by his physical transformation into a disgusting insect, take the painful decision of confining him to his room in
Aram-W6JY – the Armenian-American Radio Pioneer
As many of you know from my recent social media posts, I am striving to resurrect the marvelous hobby of amateur radio that I regretfully put into cold storage sixteen years ago due to other demands on my time, mostly