The poem read by the poet himself at the Society of Classical Poets’ in-person Poetry Symposium held in Naperville, Illinois on September 5-6, 2025:
Video created by Andrew Benson Brown.
During my time in the mental health profession, I encountered enough people with antisocial personality disorder to fill 10 lifetimes…
C.B. Joe is right… you don’t disappoint. Your tribute to Dame Sally is beautiful. I’m sure she is reading it…
What a sly but revealing comment. All you had to do was put 'chuffed' in Google (if you really didn't…
A beautiful tribute to Sally Cook, C.B., and I also appreciated the dialogue between Freud and Jung. Some, of course,…
This is a beautiful poem, Mary Jane. You not only capture different styles of music and the different forces involved…
“A bit dark,” as you say at the end, but a close look at a psychopath and his deadly deportment. Interesting smattering of German with some rhymes that seems so fitting. Your dramatic voice, somber tone, and accentuation add much to the reading.
During my time in the mental health profession, I encountered enough people with antisocial personality disorder to fill 10 lifetimes (and its childhood precursor, ‘conduct disorder’). It wasn’t fun, although in retrospect it makes for entertaining stories sometimes. I don’t like to think about it day to day, but there is a fascination with that type.
Roy is right about your expert accentuation, that sometimes even the poet will forget when reading in public. You sounded the stresses and the pauses perfectly. With the text before me in the reading, I enjoyed the dark war story much more–being print-oriented as I am. I have been inspired by you to think of producing more classic battle poetry. Takes a significant battle and plenty of research, as you are so well aware.
This Rahl seems to have been one helluva soldier. Before the American Revolution he appears to have been in combat all over Europe.
It’s common for these hard-bitten, combat-scarred veterans to hire themselves out as mercenaries when their own nations are at peace. They are very well paid, and are addicted to the hormonal “rush” of warfare.
You are a funny man, ABB, and a very good reader, indeed. I was able to hear the rhymes without any awkward end-stopping, which I take as a sign that both the reader and the writer are particularly adept at what they are about. As it happens, I grew up about a half hour south of Washington’s Crossing, PA, and our mother drove us there for many a picnic in the warm months. A bit farther north was Bowman’s Hill, which sported a stone tower that we loved. Nice going!