Poetry

Memorial

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I. Someone from Somerset, or a group of them, beat him for embezzling their money. That’s what my older brother, Charley,   told me. But Mother, back then, said he was robbed in an alley and came away with a broken arm… Read More ›

Lumps

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The Lumps Appeared Ten Days Ago All Over My Back And neck– Like Snow. Only Worse. **** My Doctor Insists She can Pick Them Off As quick As they Pop up If I Wish. Like Pimples– Only More So. ****… Read More ›

Instantaneously

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Published in Better than Starbucks, November 2018, Vol.III No. IX   She races from phantoms  and me. Hides in the strangest places.   She sees.  Faces me.   Woohoo! I say. Woohoo! Woohoo!    There she goes chased by demons…. Read More ›

Pheidippides

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I know no rivers, no forests, no fields. I know pavement and concrete — and how hard fulfillment feels on my feet, my back, the sun, the heat as temperatures rise. I know the relentless wind, drenching rain, and numbing… Read More ›

Rocky Mountain Ticks

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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 ›

Mountain Meadow

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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 ›

I Read You Were Lost

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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 ›

The Pacific is Never Blue

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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 ›

Families

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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 ›

So He’s Dead

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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 ›

Winter

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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.  

Catching a Train

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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 ›

Waimea Bay

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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 ›

Vision

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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 —  

Cat Night

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This night is cool, Not like some nights When it slaps and jostles you, Like a cat swatting A cockroach between its paws, Until you escape inside, Only to be tormented  With its maddening meows To come out and wrestle…. Read More ›

My Old Man

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My old man I saw him last night. He was standing there in slippers, Pajamas, Bathrobe tied tight. He said — He had trouble with his hearing, He had trouble with his sight, But, he said, Don’t worry, Jonathan, It’s… Read More ›

Drowning Poem

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I found myself drowning In a sea of love And like the Nautilus I couldn’t get help from above But unlike the Nautilus It wasn’t a major expedition I went to a fishing hole I was only fishing.

Patty Hearst

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I imagine you sitting shoeless On the weathered steps Of a sparse plank porch, Lost in a spider’s web Of bad, back county roads Where water pumps And outhouses Are just another slice Of homemade bread. Only in my mind… Read More ›

Pamela Poem

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I love you/ I hate you I’m inconsistent that way; I’m a merry-go-round Up and down each day.   I ignore you/ I adore you I can’t keep it straight; You’re a bowl of mixed vegetables Carrots awful, peas great.