RKS Literature: Old Men Far More Interesting Than Young Men (Anton Chekov)

“She was really very gay and in an exultant mood. For two months after her wedding she had been tormented by the thought that she had married Colonel Yagich for his money or, as they say, par dépit”. That same evening in the out of town restaurant, she finally became convinced that she loved him passionately. In spite of his 54 years, he was so trim, sprightly and athletic, and he told puns and joined in the gypsy girls’ songs with such charm. It is true that nowadays old men are a thousand times more interesting than young ones. The Colonel was two years older than her father, but was that important if, to be quite honest, he was infinitely stronger, more energetic, and livelier than she was, even though she was only twenty-three?”

Anton Chekov, “The Two Volodyas”.,

RKS 2026 Ontario Wine: Fogolar Funk Riesling?

Aroma: Fascinating funk as an aroma in decay. Never encountered this bizarre and alluring fog from Fogolar. Fog meets Fogolor! Niagara peach and apricot intertwined in this strangeness. Slate and marmalade.

Palate: This medium dry Riesling is Pfalz all the way. Honeyed smoothness. Penetrating stone fruit with an endless finish. A full bodied almost a bruiser of a Riesling.

Personality: Typical Fogolar. Quietly impressive with all its wines. Modesty or anonymity?

Food Match: If you can wait until summer pizza with Niagara peaches as a topping. I had the perfect such pizza a couple of years ago at Elgin Harvest Pizza just outside of St. Thomas, Ontario.

Cellarbility: Here and now is just fine but can sail into 2027 nicely.

Price: $20 CDN.

RKS 2026 Ontario Wine Rating: 94/100. Natalie MacLean 91.

(Hughes Vineyard 2022 Lincoln Lakeshore Riesling, VQA Lincoln Lakeshore, Fogolar Wines. 9.1%, 750 mL).

RKS Poetry Anthology: Frustration of a poet who in a narcissistic moment might join an advertising agency

Frustration of a poet who in a narcissistic moment might join an advertising agency

Is the poet’s gross national product

Limited to 87 poems

And from that point on clever loquaciousness

Which for all concerned

Might better have remained as crumbled balls of paper

Robert K. Stephen

RKS Poetry Anthology: Is it possible to go fishing after your funeral?

Is it possible to go fishing after your funeral?

The gnawing worms

Probably reached you by now

Spelling the end

Can you be but a pleasant memory

Or are you there watching while I string you on my hook?

Robert K. Stephen

RKS Literature: Inebriation Followed by Tears and Hysteria (Anton Chekov)

“From past experience the Colonel knew that when women like his wife Sophia Lvovna had been in riotous, rather inebriated sprits he could normally expect fits of hysterical laughter and tears to follow. He was afraid that once they got home he would have to run around with the cold compresses and medicine instead of being able to go to bed.”

Anton Chekov, “The Two Volodyas”

RKS Literature: Shortsighted People are Amorous (Friedrich Nietzsche)

“Shortsighted People are Amorous. Sometimes just a stronger pair of glasses will cure an amorous man; and if someone had the power to imagine a face or form twenty years older, he might go through life undisturbed.”

Friedrich Nietzsche, “Human, All Too Human”, 1878.

RKS Literature: Happiness of Marriage (Friedrich Nietzsche)

“Happiness of Marriage. Everything habitual draws an ever-tighter net of spiderwebs around us; then we notice that the fibres have become traps, and that we ourselves are sitting in the middle, like a spider that got caught there and must feed on its own blood. That is why the free spirit hates all habits and rules, everything enduring and defininiative that is why again, he painfully tears the net around him, even though he will suffer as a consequence from countless large and small wounds for he must tear those fibres away from himself, from his body, his soul.”

Friedrich Nietzsche, “Human, All Too Human”, 1878.