Robert Frost had always said you mustn't think of the last line first, or it's only a fake poem, not a real one. I'm inclined to agree.

I have a plot, but not much happens.

[T]eaching has been for me an education (Lord knows what it has been for my students).

I like all my children, even the squat and ugly ones.

This Constitutional Republic called America is an historic aberration. Any honest student of history will note that the prevailing socio-economic system is feudalism, where a tiny minority control the vast majority of wealth, power, and resources. In doing so, they have absolute control over the 99% of the population. Power equals control.

Occasionally a student writer comes up with something really beautiful and moving, and you won't know for years if it was an accident or the first burst of something wonderful.

Why are stamps adorned with kings and presidents? That we may lick their hinder parts and thump their heads.