I'm happy to urge the world to discover Stephen John Kalinich as a poet and and philosopher for our time. His wisdom quite matches the beauty of his words and the music of his cadence. I particularly discover in "If You Knew" a compendiumof attitudes which can make this a better world and each of us a better participant in our common humanity in its urgent daily battle with our common inhumanities. It is the Cliff Notes on what it means to be empathetic and open and giving and content. That one poem is a guide to meaningful existence... a one-size-fits-all-minds lesson in making the most of your life. It should join the Desiderata and Polonius' instructions to Laertes as imperative check lists for earning your right to life and fulfilling the expectations of Whomever entrusted life to us. Every literate creature should have a copy in his or her constant possession or recite it as reminder of appropriate dedication each night before sleep. The power of "If You Knew" is that these reminders are each something that we do know and should remember that we know. What we know is right, he points out, is the greatest system of checks and balances ever created.          Dick Guttman

Latest News