Michael Allyn Wells
poetry in american culture
Sunday, August 17, 2025
Eat Your Words: A Kansas Poetry Cookbook
Sunday, August 10, 2025
Morning thoughts during Rolling Thunder
Rolling thunder this morning is unsettling to our German Shepherd, Silas. He has gotten better about such sounds and fireworks but I guess he will likely always have some issue with it. He is a rescue dog but we have had him for more than 10 years. When we first brought him home he was laden with anxiety for almost everything. He would not walk through a doorway unless led through on leash.
When I am working at my desk he, and the little long haired dachshund, Madison, will quietly rest close at hand. Madison's main function in life is to tag along underfoot - especially when I move into the kitchen because he knows it is most likely there, that God will see that manna will fall from heaven. Any eatable that is enroute to the floor he will likely snarf up mid-air before it hits the floor. But he is perfectly fine eating off the floor as well.
If I am sitting otherwise quietly at my desk but have something I am eating, they are both instantly aware. Madison impatiently working for my attention in hopes I will share. Silas on the other hand lumbers over and stands quietly with this look he knows I cannot resist. It is polite and sincere and of course makes me want to reward him. If he feels however that Madison is winning in the attention mode, Silas will up the ante by adding a very quiet whimper. His posture otherwise remains polite and he only moves closer if I offer an extended hand with a treat. Madison will of course rip it out of your hand if at all possible.
What is really funny is that if I have popcorn or chex mix, or something else I can offer him while I am eating it -- and of course ancy pants too, once I am finished I have to say "all gone" and show the bowl or my hands like I am a Black Jack dealer. Once that happens he quietly goes back to his spot on the floor.
Dogs are some of my favorite people.
We have had cats too as well as at the same time. But we have had dogs that were not cat friendly and I can't be certain these two would tolerate a cat, so that is not happening. I do however miss the cats even as they were trying to walk on my keyboard as I write. But mostly they would get comfortable next to where I was writing.
I notice it has grown quieter and I think maybe we are done with the thunder for now. All is quiet, and I need to shift to another mode for a different writing project.
Saturday, August 09, 2025
I Knew to Wait
Photo by Polina Kuzovkova on Unsplash
The softness of the light
the twisty commingle
of sheet and blanket
left in haste
but for how long?
Too early an hour
for a walk.
A taxi maybe?
But where?
Do I wait?
Ah, the coffee
it was made
as if specially for me
I pour a cup and wait.
Saturday, February 15, 2025
Saturday, October 19, 2024
I Hear Only Myself Breathing
Saturday, September 21, 2024
Thought Scape
Photo by Fons Heijnsbroek, abstract-art on Unsplash
A blended series of interactive thoughts.
Transcribed to ethical proportion.
Taking up space -- but only in a single dimension.
What would it say-
were it able to speak for itself?
Would the response be linear?
Tangential?
Much adoo about nothing?
#abstract
Saturday, September 14, 2024
Is The Taylor Swifte Endorsement of Kamala Harris the Cultural Zenath for the 2024 Election?
With the 2024 Election Campaign coming at us like an astroid, the endorsement of Kamala Harris for president the night of the Trump - Harris debate has sparked the question of how much impact such an endorsement can have on a national campaign.
We know per recent polling that the race is very tight. We know that Swife has a whole army of fans out there. Not all are voting age, but even those who are not, in most cases have parents that have likely shelled out money for Taylor Swift tickets of merchandise and I think even these young swifties can play an influential role getting parents on board.
Is there another celebrity that could offer as much star power out there? What would it take for Trump to find a counter to Swift? Does it even make a difference.
There are plenty of other cultural influencers out there that have heave lesser fanfair to offer but still bring some unique quark to the campaign. This election is unlike any I have ever witnessed.
Recently Liz Cheney and her father the former Vice President, both Republicans icons historically, have announced that for the sake of the country, they will not support the Republican nominee but instead, vote for Kamala Harris. The day I saw this, I though hell had frozen over. Then on Friday, famous conservative columnist, baseball enthusiasts and author George Will did the same. Again, it was a nod to the importance of saving our democracy from Trump as opposed to any more ideological position on issues.
If this election campaign is unorthodox for any reason, it is because the threat of our democratic republic is in so many people's view trumping other issues. No pun intended.