|
|
|
|
Writings of Andrea W. LeDew
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Buy Now: Polemics: Political Poems & Prose
|
|
|
This is the page to buy Polemics: Political Poems & Prose. The button will lead you to a universal link at Books2Read, from which you can choose your favorite vendor.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Events and Readings by Andrea W LeDew
|
|
|
|
This page has a list of past and future events and readings of Andrea W LeDew, Author of Polemics: Political Poems & Prose.
|
|
|
|
Thank you for subscribing to the For Random Learning Comes newsletter!
|
I know it has been forever since I dropped into your mailbox (to be exact, it was May 1, 2026) but here I am again with news and a patriotic essay for the occasion of our grand semiquincentennial.
|
The reason most of May dropped out of my calendar and I did not write the newsletter had to do with pre-trip jitters. I went to England with my daughter in Mid-May and had a fabulous time gallivanting around amid the flowers in some beautiful English gardens. I have photos to prove it but they will have to wait for a later date.
|
Since then I have been gathering up some of my poetry and prose since April of 2025 (and some from before, I confess, that I look at now and realize, is just as relevant as some I included in the first collection, Polemics.) That's right, I said the first collection which does imply that there may soon be a second. Of course when the second collection comes out, anything I harvested from the website will be unavailable and off limits. Them's the breaks.
|
My novel meanwhile remains in a state of suspended animation. I keep telling myself that I am just taking the advice I once heard, which is, write it and then put it away for a year, to see it with fresh eyes. Of course the advice giver had implied it should be finished at least to the point of a first draft before putting it away. Oh well. 75% done will have to do. The year will be up soon and then, its back to work!
|
Also beginning in early June I started podcast guesting again 3-4 times a month. None of these new episodes have appeared yet but I will add them to the page above with the monastery clock when they do. Meanwhile feel free to check out the ones I do have linked there so far.
|
I have not stopped writing poetry either, though it may seem so. I am hording my newer poems to put in this second collection so as at least parts of it will be brand spanking new. Here again I am taking advice--the best way to get your first book to sell is to write a second one!
|
Sales, that is, promotions don't hurt either. Please check out books2read.com/polemics, the link to my book on your favorite online vendor to see what their promos may be. Ill give you a hint: July Fourth and my book are like America and Apple Pie.
|
I also was ever so excited to see my book in some store windows, including at Happy Medium in Riverside and BookMark in Neptune Beach. Chamblins had copies too. Go patronize your local bookstores and ask them to carry it too! Oh, also I just found out I'm on Hoopla as an audiobook, so check if your library has Hoopla! Checkouts benefit me as well.
|
Hope you are well and enjoying the summer-- within reason and close to water. At close to 100 degree temps here, one doesn't want to enjoy it too much. Hydrate.
|
|
Happy Fourth! Hope the Next 250 will be even better!
|
Read my essay So Close and Yet So Far at the top of the blogroll below for my take on this particular Fourth of July. Hope it proves more inspirational to you than otherwise.
|
Hope all is well with you and yours!
|
|
|
|
|
|
So Close and Yet So Far
|
|
This essay discusses the Semiquincentennial celebration and compares it with Fourths of Years gone by.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Drawing
|
|
A poem on redistricting, the drawing of new districts to serve the ruling party's political purposes, with the blessing of the Supreme Court and with enthusiasm unchecked by either the people's will nor the State's Constitutional provisions.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Attempt
|
|
A poem describing the swirling emotions on and offline provoked by the attempted assassination of President Trump at the dinner for the press. Caveat: I do not doubt the attempt on his life was real. P.S. The photo is an attempt at beauty.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Approaching May 1st, 2026, Anniversary of The Great Fire, Jacksonville, FL
|
|
A poem about a very dry spring in Florida which calls to mind the terrible fire which consumed Jacksonville early in the 20th century.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Smiles
|
|
This poem analyzes the loss of reputation of the US in the eyes of its closest allies, and the attitude it projects, about that loss.
|
|
|
|
Bread and Butter
|
|
This poem is a response to the claim by politicians, that "bread and butter" issues are the most important ones to the most people. It questions whether that is true, and whether fixing other issues might cause people to focus less on mere survival.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Doubt & Definitions, 3 am, Ancient City
|
|
|
A poem about doubt and definitions at 3 am in the Ancient City of St Augustine while mulling over a glorious day of PoetFest 2026. Written with the utmost affection for those, for whom poetry and writing in general, is not their first love, but who listen to us writers anyway.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Hostages
|
|
A poem describing two incidents where presidents were called upon to rescue "hostages" with very different outcomes.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Raven
|
|
A poem nearly as dire as Poe's own Raven, pointing out the attraction of such birds to shiny objects. By Andrea LeDew.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Democracy is Slow
|
|
A poem in which Technology is likened to mice and Democracy is likened to a slow, hibernating bear.
|
|
|
|
