“The Sacred”
by Stephen Dunn

After the teacher asked if anyone had

a sacred place

and the students fidgeted and shrank

in their chairs, the most serious of them all
said it was his car,

being in it alone, his tape deck playing

things he’d chosen, and others knew the truth
had been spoken
and began speaking about their rooms,

their hiding places, but the car kept coming up,

the car in motion,

music filling it, and sometimes one other person

who understood the bright altar of the dashboard

and how far away

a car could take you from the need

to speak, or to answer, the key

in having a key

and putting it in, and going.

Posted: April 21st, 2008 under journal entry.
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Books You Haven’t Read

Books You Needn’t Read

 Books Made For Purposes Other Than Reading,

Books Read Even Before You Open Them Since They Belong To The Category Of Books Read Before Being Written

Books That If You Had More Than One Life You Would Certainly Also Read But Unfortunately Your Days Are Numbered

Books You Mean To Read But There Are Others You Must Read First

Books Too Expensive Now And You’ll Wait Till They’re Remaindered

 Books ditto When They Come Out In Paperback

Books You Can Borrow From Somebody

Books That Everybody’s Read So It’s As If You Had Read Them, Too

 Books You’ve Been Planning Top Read For Ages

 Books You’ve Been Hunting For Years Without Success

Books Dealing With Something You’re Working On At The Moment

 Books You Want To Own So They’ll Be Handy Just In Case

 Books You Could Put Aside Maybe To Read This Summer

 Books You Need To Go With Other Books On Your Shelves

 Books That Fill You With Sudden, Inexplicable Curiosity, Not Easily Justified

Books Read Long Ago Which It’s Now Time To Reread 

Books You’ve Always Pretended To Have Read And Now It’s Time To Sit Down And Really Read Them

New Books Whose Author Or Subject Appeals To You

New Books by Authors Or On Subjects Not New (for you or in general) 

New Books By Authors Or On Subjects Completely Unknown (at least to you)

Posted: March 26th, 2008 under journal entry.
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Identify one everyday technology and think about how it affects your daily life. Because one goal of this exercise is to help you begin to notice technologies that we usually take for granted, the object you choose should be non-electric and nonelectronic. Make a list of every technology you use during the day. Review your list and choose one object that surprises you the most. Write about this object using the following questions as guides:

What makes this object a technology?

How does it impact your daily life?

Why is it surprising to think of it as a technology?

How does this everyday object affect how you define a technology?

What makes something a technology?

Posted: March 3rd, 2008 under daily notes, in-class activity, journal entry.
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