Saturday Good Reads

Another tragedy, and the name Aurora joins the name of Columbine. The online world reacts and responds immediately, and a poem by John Blase does what only poetry can do.

Yet amid the terrible pain, there is still beauty, and grace, and goodness. A little bit of it is here.

Prose

“Safe Places” by Sarah Salter at Living Between the Lines.

“The River Waves” by L.L. Barkat at Seedlings in Stone.

“Finding Gratefulness in Oncology’s Outpatient Wing” by Shawn Smucker.

“So I Stopped Eating” by Emily Wierenga via Shawn Smucker.

“Darlin – I’m Dang Close” by Darlene at Simply Darlene.

“An Open Letter to the Buried” by Billy Coffey at What I Learned Today.

“Happy Birthday, Lord of the Rings” by Chris Yokel.

“We Treat Them Like Lepers” by Michael Perkins at The Handwritten.

“The Most Beautiful Gift” by Kimberlee Conway Ireton.

Poetry

“Morning at Great Pond” by Megan Willome.

“Beauty Beyond Words, and Yet I Want them So Badly” by Jerry Barrett at Gerald the Writer.

“Kingdom Poets: C.S. Lewis” by D.S. Martin for The Rabbit Room.

“Whatever is convenient” by Brian Miller at WayStationOne.

“Palm Reading” by Maureen Doallas at Writing Without Paper.

“Like a River” by Chris Galford at The Waking Den.

“Royal Priesthood” by Chris Yokel.

“Thinking” by Nancy Rosback at A Little Somethin’.

“Building” by Betsy Brown for Curator Magazine.

“20 July 2012” by John Blasé at The Beautiful Due.

Paintings and Photographs

“Go On, Job, Bread & Water” by Jack Baumgartner at The School for the Transfer of Energy.

“North Umpqua Study 3,” watermedia on Yupo by Randall David Tipton at Painter’s Process.

“Wandering Westward: Moments of Intimacy” by J of India’s daughter-in-law at Neither Use Nor Ornament.

“Real Life: The Summer and the Wild” by Kelly Sauer.

“Corn at Sunrise” and “Coneflowers at Sunrise” by Tim Good at Good Photography.

Cartoons

“Hero Worship 2” by My Bad Sheep

Videos

“Shine on Us” by Josh Wilson (et al).

“What Makes You Beautiful” by The Piano Guys.

Photograph: Tower of London by Vera Kratochvil via Public Domain Pictures. Used with permission.