As we approach the fiftieth anniversary of the '67 Detroit Race Riots, I thought I would share a short story set in Detroit at that time. "This is the end, beautiful friendThis is the end, my only friend, the end."*(Jim Morrison) Perfect Sanctuary I stopped telling the truth to our parish priests in 1967, the... Continue Reading →
This Dress It doesn't fit, Mom this dress, your death it's like a net, in satin wrapped around me, I'm trapped in this collar, I flounder I can't get it right it's not my size I wish I was naked and you had your breath. It's a straight jacket in black, I'm crazy like burlap,... Continue Reading →
for Kay McKay I wondered today how long it takes for someone to become an angel. Is it instantaneous? Now you're dead, now you're an angel? Is there a waiting period? A series of hoops and steps and paperwork to get desensitized from life and ready for death. Like an immigration process? A job interview? Is... Continue Reading →
Roots, Worms, and Blossoms How will the promise of age rest upon my skin? As it does the forgotten apple? The sad Macintosh left under a tree withered and no good for a pie? Will time brand me with pinches smudge my shiny skin and deplete my rightful size? Or will I be the old... Continue Reading →
We Try to Matter We try to preserve it, our story, we try to matter. Life is a series of little attempts. Not just now, but forever, we believe that slick technology or really rich posole, or the right lover at the right hour with the right. . . what ? . . . astrology sign... Continue Reading →
We stitch together what we can from our lives, avidly trying to make sense of it all. Yesterday's subtle sunset in the west, a simple display of gray swathes with a few thin golden lines, lovely and soft, essential but not memorable. Lo and behold, turn around and that same simple daily decsent has indeed... Continue Reading →
Years ago when we lived in Las Cruces, New Mexico, in a wonderful little adobe house with two rosebushes, a pomegranate tree, and an apricot tree that hung over the neighbor's fence into our yard (and with fruit, location is ownership, right?), many of the neighbors had suns hanging on the porches or on the... Continue Reading →
The first winter storm rolled in yesterday. It rained all evening, and into the night. Storms like this warm the air a bit, and I slept with my window open, listening to the rain all night long. My high desert mountain life takes me, every day, away from the wet lake life I lived in... Continue Reading →
When thousands upon thousands of citizens come together to celebrate the loved ones they have lost, traditional Mexican culture, the American version of traditional Mexican culture, Tucson, Arizona's version of traditional Mexican/American culture, or just get out and dress up, party, and parade because it is fun, and it is peaceful and loving and beautiful,... Continue Reading →
Oh, this death talk. This rainy November morning brings it on. The piercing orange sunrise lining the horizon. All Souls Day, Di de los Muertos. This time of year makes me nostalgic and calm at once. When the trees shed their wares. Secrets are revealed. Leaves float to the street or creek. Through the... Continue Reading →
pocket poet 