Author Archives
Writings. Often within the intersection between fiction and non-fiction.
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Tootsie Rolls
It is late Sunday night and I am standing in the kitchen with a mouthful of tootsie rolls. I have jammed eight, bite-size tootsie rolls into my mouth and now am having problems breathing. I should have blown my nose first –… Read More ›
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Rocky Mountain Ticks
Rocky Mountain Ticks Roaming around – On top of my head. (Now that’s alarming!) My wife won’t stop Long enough to touch them. (She thinks ticks are Disgusting.) Listen, mister, I’m not touching ticks (Without surgical gloves, A mask, and… Read More ›
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Notes from the Field: McCall, Idaho
July 25th: It is six a.m. Tuesday morning, and I am lying in an exquisitely comfortable bed looking out a second-floor cabin window beside a lake in McCall, Idaho. The sun has just come over the mountains and cast a brilliant surge… Read More ›
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Mountain Meadow
Purple flowers blossoming in a Mountain meadow; tiny, white flowers Shaking off a long, harsh winter; Hundreds of dark, yellow bees Climbing pink, floral stems and each Other – droning, drunk, and alive; the Musky smell of Douglas fur and… Read More ›
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The School Bus; Mother and Me
I loved our farm deep in the mountains in the middle of nowhere. I don’t think schools ever crossed my parents’ minds – not like how schools dominate real estate markets today and are often the decisive elements in where one… Read More ›
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Songs in Need of Singing
What song must I sing To thwart the sadness I see And negativity Permeating my life. What song must I sing To cast aside the few Moments of doubt I’ve used To define my life. What song must… Read More ›
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My Older Brother Charley
At the far end of the hall my brother, Charley, and I shared a bedroom, much to his dismay. It was clear to all of us, at this point in our lives, Charley did not like me, though I am not… Read More ›
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I Drove Up Behind her
I drove up behind her and saw a cloud in her car, Not smoke from a cigarette, Or a malfunctioning air conditioner, But a billowy white cloud Hovering in the back of her suv. I decided to follow her, But… Read More ›
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My Wife Can’t Sleep
Late at night I listen – to my wife moving around in our kitchen, floor boards groaning, pans burning, mixer mixing. Or the sound of the TV, my wife watching another Nazi documentary. My wife empathizes with the holocaust victims,… Read More ›
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The Farmhouse and Holly Too
Our house on the farm was a one-floor rancher in the shape of an “L”. At the lower end of the “L” was the living room and dining room overlooking our fields and the roof of the barn off to the… Read More ›
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In the Morning, In the Light
In the morning, in the light, I love you day and night, Isn’t it good, isn’t it right. No matter when it seems, It’s easy to dream — Love’s sweet dreams. This amazing feeling flies, Blazing across the… Read More ›
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Tonight She Won’t be Alone
He lies alone in an alley, no job, no life, no home. Pink umbrella under a window, she works all alone. Black BMW passes slowly, wipers cutting the unknown. Curled in a bloody corner, he moans and… Read More ›
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I Read You Were Lost
I read you were lost, Sitting on my bed Too drained From my daughter’s Good-bye. I couldn’t stop Reading. It will be months, Before she’s back In our lives. On a tropical beach Clouds streaming Across a salt-filled… Read More ›
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Winter on the Farm; at the Airport
It was in the fall of 1958 when we moved nine miles east of Somerset on Route 31, or the Somerset Pike as it was known, about a half-of-a-mile beyond the crossroads of Brotherton. At first, our parents loved their new… Read More ›
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Notes from the Field: Corcovado
Just back from visiting Corcovado National Park on the Osa Peninsula in southern Costa Rica. Staying at the Drake Bay Wilderness Lodge and woke up around five each morning to go bird watching. This morning spent a half-an-hour drinking coffee and… Read More ›
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Where we Lived; Mother and Daddy
The house my mother found in Gettysburg was magical. It was everything I could have wanted as a teenager, and it didn’t take long before I realized it. My family lived in three different locations while I was growing up. The first was… Read More ›
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The Pacific is Never Blue
Coastal currents creating Rip-tides of aqua and turquoise. Rolling waves crashing in white Flames on black jagged lava. Brown seed pods bobbing Buoyant in white effervescent froth. Lucent crabs piercing grayish Bubbles on moist brown sand. Hibiscus flutter maddeningly Red under swaying palms…. Read More ›
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My Life is Falling Apart
My life is falling apart And it’s your fault. We need to get it together Once and for all. I know you. You’re pushing me so I’ll Leave. Punishing me emotionally. Why are you – Fighting me? Why else – Do you… Read More ›
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My Heart Aches for You
My heart aches for you To the depth of my soul. My desire to help you, Protect you, save you, Reaches across worlds To embrace and comfort you. My heart aches for you To stand in place of you… Read More ›
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Introduction and Rationale
This is a reflection on my mother’s life and a story of my family. I have wanted to write this history for some time, and, hopefully, now that I am doing it, I’ll get the facts right as we go along. Unfortunately,… Read More ›
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I was in a Car Accident Once
I was in a car accident once in which I didn’t sustain any injuries and my car was untouched. I live about seven easy minutes from my office, and at one point in my tiny commute, I get on the interstate… Read More ›
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Families
Lives lived and lost in time. Who were they and why did they die? I thought you knew back when I was young, But it was a lie. Time passes So fast. Details become someone’s generalities and Subtleties lose their… Read More ›
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Time
Recently I have had problems with birthdays and especially my own. I spent this one in the skies ostensibly, flying to various cities to visit clients, and, I must admit, my family was not pleased at all as I didn’t answer… Read More ›
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Notes from the Field: The Swami of Encinitas
Just back visiting Houston and San Diego. Took to the skies Wednesday morning (with a two-hour unscheduled delay in Baltimore) and was home three nights later, right on time. Two days into my speed trip through America sitting in a java joint in Encinitas, CA, I discovered I was missing the key stroke… Read More ›
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William, Marcus, and Eve
This is a story about William and Marcus and the night they met Eve. William and Marcus are from Durham, North Carolina — two kids literally out of thousands of teenagers in the county. William is 17 years old and… Read More ›
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So He’s Dead
So he’s dead. A life well lived, Lived well. So they said. Died yesterday. Born eighty years ago, Died in a coma – 104 days from diagnosis. A man we thought would Live forever. Twenty-three years my senior, Who admonished… Read More ›
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Mites and Hummingbirds
It turns out there is one species of mites that lives in the beaks of hummingbirds. As you no doubt remember from biology, the mite is the size of a little black spec, smaller even! When a hummingbird flits on… Read More ›
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The Lobster Lady of the Meyersdale Fair
The Firemen’s Carnival at Colt Park was one of the highlights of growing up in Gettysburg, but, in looking back, nothing compares to my first visit to the Meyersdale Fair in Somerset County. Meyersdale is tucked away in a deep river… Read More ›
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I Can’t Sing or Play an Instrument
I can’t sing or play an instrument. In tenth grade the music teacher, Mr. Parcells, kicked me out of chorus and band within a week of each other. I can’t remember why in chorus, but it would be fair to say… Read More ›
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Notes from the Field: Concert at La Selva
It’s five AM, and I am writing from the La Selva Biological Station in Costa Rica. I am listening to a howler monkey outside in the forest letting everyone know he is awake and hungry. His bark is long and low and… Read More ›
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Reflections on Palo Verde and Nicaragua
It was one of those old timey airports that you used to see in the Martin and Lewis or Tony Curtis movies, where the stewardesses were all young and busty with tight uniforms and little caps and the idea of… Read More ›
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Winter
It’s cancerous! Snow-like, drifting through our lives. Silence, long and sad. Friends emerging, suffering, Madness, sweeping through our lives. It’s freezing! Wake up! Your touch so cold. ****
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Catching a Train
I have this old, cardboard Suitcase, black, rusty-claps shut, More like a trunk really, Hidden with years and curiosities. This old, cardboard – Suitcase, stuffed-full, packed – Away, nearly-forgotten. My trunk. More like a suitcase, really, That tramps would use… Read More ›
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The Road West was Invigorating
The road west was invigorating. I felt like a 21st century Daniel Boone. How nice, for once, to be heading west away from Interstate 95, away from the suffocating traffic and the grinding slowdowns, away from the endless progression of mega-cities, formidable in… Read More ›
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Waimea Bay
She crosses the sand aloof The cool loner on a retreat, No one owns her but the sea and the beach. She chooses her spot Unties the mid-drift knot Of her unbuttoned shirt. Casually she steps out of her… Read More ›
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Pecos
I know How a run-over Road runner Feels. A crushed Red carcass Under Texan wheels.
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Life, the Paradox, the Puzzle
LIfe: Smashing Mashing Mud The Paradox: Exciting Flashing Neoplastic Orgy of action Lashing Bashing Arcade crazed Pinball crashing The Puzzle: If everything Fit together I would tear it apart How else does one Reach that paradox That paradise… Read More ›
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Vision
I once Believed I held A vision, But it Was all in — My head. Everything I say Says Nothing, And nothing — Needs said. Where have I gone To come To this? I wish I —
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In the Ocean Fog Is a Specter
In the ocean fog Behind the shadows — of swirling mist, Stalks a specter With a seducer’s kiss. Across the marshes In the seeping sigh — of his gray cloak cover, Creeping softly forward The specter seeks a lover…. Read More ›
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Kittens, Rabbits, and other Soft Things
Your eyes are alive As a smiling moon Whispers in the night. Beautiful Did I mention to say? Alive Alive Happy and alive I soar Miles beyond my stride.
