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Ashok Karra

Ashok Karra

370 posts published

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Arakida Moritake, "The fallen blossom"
poetry

Arakida Moritake, "The fallen blossom"

Since the result of growth matters so much, maybe growth should be treated as no less than a miracle.

  • Ashok Karra
Ashok Karra Feb 23, 2022 • 5 min read
Naomi Shihab Nye, "Come with Me"
poetry

Naomi Shihab Nye, "Come with Me"

I spent Valentine's Day thinking about Transformers branded Valentine's cards from grade school.

  • Ashok Karra
Ashok Karra Feb 19, 2022 • 4 min read
On the first two sentences of Farabi's "The Philosophy of Aristotle"
philosophy

On the first two sentences of Farabi's "The Philosophy of Aristotle"

Why read Farabi? This is just the opening of one of his works, and it is as thorough as one can get in terms of weighing ideas and their consequences.

  • Ashok Karra
Ashok Karra Feb 18, 2022 • 8 min read
On Reading Closely
philosophy

On Reading Closely

...what's really exciting about reading, what makes me addicted to good essays and difficult ideas, is formation.

  • Ashok Karra
Ashok Karra Feb 9, 2022 • 5 min read
Matsuo Bashō, "Winter solitude"
poetry

Matsuo Bashō, "Winter solitude"

I believe Bashō and Stevens have something to say about writers who are too comic.

  • Ashok Karra
Ashok Karra Jan 30, 2022 • 4 min read
Jane Hirshfield, "All the Difficult Hours and Minutes"
poetry

Jane Hirshfield, "All the Difficult Hours and Minutes"

Hirshfield's poem brings us to a number of pains and frustrations. They are "difficult hours and minutes," "like salted plums in a jar."

  • Ashok Karra
Ashok Karra Jan 30, 2022 • 5 min read
Louise Glück, "On Realism"
poetry

Louise Glück, "On Realism"

What exactly do I get out of what I read? How can my reading be of value to others?

  • Ashok Karra
Ashok Karra Jan 28, 2022 • 4 min read
Emily Dickinson and Political Philosophy: On "My Reward for Being," J343
poetry

Emily Dickinson and Political Philosophy: On "My Reward for Being," J343

I am so, so jealous of Dickinson's confidence in this poem.

  • Ashok Karra
Ashok Karra Jan 20, 2022 • 5 min read
The Danger of Politics as a Wrestling Promo
politics

The Danger of Politics as a Wrestling Promo

20 year old me would not believe a former President could stoop this low.

  • Ashok Karra
Ashok Karra Jan 18, 2022 • 6 min read
Robert Creeley, "Help Heaven"
poetry

Robert Creeley, "Help Heaven"

I think attention should be paid to how well Creeley uses phrases on the edge of cliche.

  • Ashok Karra
Ashok Karra Jan 15, 2022 • 4 min read
Ted Kooser, "Starlight"
poetry

Ted Kooser, "Starlight"

...there are desires connected with the unknowable, and those desires underlie things like religious belief.

  • Ashok Karra
Ashok Karra Jan 10, 2022 • 4 min read
Robert Frost, "The Pasture"
poetry

Robert Frost, "The Pasture"

...there's real value for real people in creating things which do not strive for immortal status.

  • Ashok Karra
Ashok Karra Jan 1, 2022 • 4 min read
Yosa Buson, "Yearning for the Past"
poetry

Yosa Buson, "Yearning for the Past"

I believe most of us can relate to getting older, losing friends, and becoming lonelier.

  • Ashok Karra
Ashok Karra Dec 22, 2021 • 4 min read
John Wieners, "Plus Mine" & Robert Frost, "Meeting and Passing"
poetry

John Wieners, "Plus Mine" & Robert Frost, "Meeting and Passing"

I wonder about the 11 year old kid brought to the White House to mow the lawn while Trump yelled at him.

  • Ashok Karra
Ashok Karra Dec 18, 2021 • 5 min read
Charles Simic, "Fear"
poetry

Charles Simic, "Fear"

I always thought the one benefit of getting older would be becoming less panicky.

  • Ashok Karra
Ashok Karra Dec 8, 2021 • 5 min read
"21," by Ben Niespodziany

"21," by Ben Niespodziany

...since I'm trying to be more professional, small failures hit harder. They're seeds of guilt which grow like magic beans.

  • Ashok Karra
Ashok Karra Dec 1, 2021 • 4 min read
Robert Frost, "Hyla Brook"
poetry

Robert Frost, "Hyla Brook"

In order to do political philosophy, one has to actually know something practical.

  • Ashok Karra
Ashok Karra Nov 22, 2021 • 5 min read
from Hanif Abdurraqib's "All the TV Shows Are About Cops"
poetry

from Hanif Abdurraqib's "All the TV Shows Are About Cops"

...I live in the United States of Kyle Rittenhouse.

  • Ashok Karra
Ashok Karra Nov 20, 2021 • 3 min read
Introducing Plato's "Hipparchus"
philosophy

Introducing Plato's "Hipparchus"

Greed and shame brought me to Plato's "Hipparchus."

  • Ashok Karra
Ashok Karra Nov 11, 2021 • 4 min read
Emily Dickinson, "Best Witchcraft is Geometry" (1158)
poetry

Emily Dickinson, "Best Witchcraft is Geometry" (1158)

If geometry, the shapes which compose everyday life, is witchcraft, then a little more awareness of what helps is actually a minor miracle.

  • Ashok Karra
Ashok Karra Nov 10, 2021 • 3 min read
Boris Pasternak, "The Wind"
poetry

Boris Pasternak, "The Wind"

I'll try to speak to the past but there doesn't seem to be much of it. It won't speak back.

  • Ashok Karra
Ashok Karra Nov 5, 2021 • 4 min read
The Potential Importance of Advising for Honors Programs
education

The Potential Importance of Advising for Honors Programs

A good advisor listens and highlights possibilities. A student is encouraged to explore, and no field or topic is off the table.

  • Ashok Karra
Ashok Karra Nov 4, 2021 • 6 min read
Linda Norton, "Monk"
poetry

Linda Norton, "Monk"

What happens when you pick up a hobby you left behind as a kid, 22 years ago?

  • Ashok Karra
Ashok Karra Oct 30, 2021 • 5 min read
Twenty years later, I have some idea what to do in a school club

Twenty years later, I have some idea what to do in a school club

...what was I supposed to do, say, at my high school's literary society?

  • Ashok Karra
Ashok Karra Oct 23, 2021 • 5 min read
Reading in Part: On Aristotle's Way of Writing
philosophy

Reading in Part: On Aristotle's Way of Writing

...the big mistake I've made in reading is paying attention to Aristotle's actual words.

  • Ashok Karra
Ashok Karra Oct 18, 2021 • 6 min read
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