Robert Levine

Writer of poetry & nonfiction. Freelance editor/proofreader. Tutor. Orthodox Jew. Last but not least, daddy.

[Robert Levine @RobertLevine1]

New long poem section on Substack:
Guillermo https://t.co/4AwL8tFc0v

[Robert Levine @RobertLevine1]

About this nor'easter hitting the East Coast:
"If it keeps on rainin', the levee's gonna break.
If it keeps on rainin', the levee's gonna break.
When the levee breaks, I have no place to stay."
--Kansas Joe McCoy and Memphis Minnie/#RobertPlant

[Robert Levine @RobertLevine1]

My ESL student's family went apple-picking last weekend. When our lesson last night was over, he gave me a little bag of four apples.

[Robert Levine @RobertLevine1]

After a long freelance writing drought, my "boss" sent me some notes for hotel reviews over the weekend to write up!

[Robert Levine @RobertLevine1]

@kylieoralobell There's a big Turkish-Jewish community in Seattle, where my ex-wife & my daughter live.

[Robert Levine @RobertLevine1]

Jackie was excited to get the Artscroll Stone Tanach (Jewish Bible) that I ordered for her!

[Robert Levine @RobertLevine1]

Boruch Ha-Shem, Jackie is now a bas mitzvoh!

[Robert Levine @RobertLevine1]

I avoid getting picked for jury duty last week. A family member had been the victim of the type of crime the case dealt with, so I was able to honestly say I doubted I could be impartial. I also saw my friend Rabbi Ben Houben there, who was summoned for the same day.

[Robert Levine @RobertLevine1]

My daughter has gotten my hooked on "Young Sheldon." Its style of humor seems like that of "M*A*S*H": very sarcastic, sometimes silly, strongly character-based.

[Robert Levine @RobertLevine1]

My friend Zvi Siegel introduced me to "Janus words"--words w/opposite meanings. "Cleave"=to split apart & to cling to; "sanction"=to punish & to condone. "Garnish"=to add (a decoration) & to deduct from. "Screen"=to hide from view & to scrutinize.

[Robert Levine @RobertLevine1]

@20th_Centurygal Rick Danko.

[Robert Levine @RobertLevine1]

Revisions in which I replace words that don't fit go quickly. Revisions in which I search the thesaurus for words that might fit better than what I have are time-intensive.

[Robert Levine @RobertLevine1]

Doing some research at work, I pulled up a company's website w/the heading "Leaders in Filtration." When I first looked at it, I misread it as "Leaders in Flirtation."

[Robert Levine @RobertLevine1]

@kylieoralobell "If it were easy, everybody would do it. The hard is what makes it great."--"A League of Their Own"

[Robert Levine @RobertLevine1]

A man was taking his son, who looked like he was in first or second grade, and his daughter, who looked like she was in kindergarten, to the nearby elementary school. A few minutes after I passed them, the daughter said, "Daddy, I smell an enemy." Was she throwing shade at me?

[Robert Levine @RobertLevine1]

Walking home from the subway, I saw a dead sparrow on the sidewalk--flattened. Must have been run over by a bike or scooter, probably after it died. I found a second dead sparrow 20-30 yards away. ???

[Robert Levine @RobertLevine1]

Were those things the Scotland fans at the World Cup game at Gillette Stadium were wearing really kilts or just plaid skirts they borrowed from their sisters or girlfriends?

[Robert Levine @RobertLevine1]

Election Day https://t.co/wzZUxk8vHG
A new section of my long poem about my hometown of Greenbelt, Maryland.

[Robert Levine @RobertLevine1]

What seems to be a very young blue jay, with a beak full of grass and looking lost.

[Robert Levine @RobertLevine1]

Jackie told me she wrote an essay for her English class about misanthropy. Chip off the old block.