All the years I pined for alone, and here she is ‘hello’ oh, hello Alone lived on the moon when hormones ruled my household, my own waning like a sweating crescent, and dueling with the girls’, rising in shimmers there was no alone Give me alone Alone had to be invited in, rarely accepted or welcomed, alone was... Continue Reading →
Make Those Bones Strong Make those bones stronger than the sliver of new light, resting on the gutters along his neighbor's roof, promising another day, good or bad, another. Make those bones stronger than his dog’s, where resilience and patience reside, waiting for the jingle of the leash, a morning walk? Always happy for just another... Continue Reading →
My mother claimed, not a boast mind you, a claim, that I was independent before I was born. She may have also used the words ‘stubborn,’ ‘brat,’ or 'bold,' but mostly she referred to me as independent. Surely it was no surprise when at 21 I went west. It was always a surprise that I... Continue Reading →
It made for a pretty sweet parenting pleasure to arrive home to a house where I could see the vacuum wheel tracks running across the carpet like directional signs saying 'This way to clean!' And to smell the fresh red chile pork in the kitchen. 'Are we at your mom's?' I asked the girls' dad.... Continue Reading →
Bad Breaks We’ve all suffered a broken heart of one sort or the other. Some that seem reparable and some, not so much. From the go-on-a-few-dates-with-a-hottie-who-dumps-you after the holidays kind of broken heart, to being dumped by the gem you dated for a few years who leaves you quite suddenly. And you find yourself withering... Continue Reading →
As I prepare to travel to Michigan, the place I grew up, the first time, and the place I call home, I think about this. This calling of home. What makes Michigan my home is those twenty years I lived there, barely a third of my life. Yet it is a place drilled into my... Continue Reading →
What a day it was shopping with my daughter Riana, not for anything in particular, just spending time together. Talking, laughing, and talking more. But in the course of the day she shared magic words. Words that mothers and fathers wait for all of their parenting lives, and when they finally hear them, they think,... Continue Reading →
for Riana Peach sky, and blueberry pie. My baby's birthday, she's twenty-five. A quarter century, and from that moment of birth I loved rocking her, now she's rockin' the earth. Feisty and tender, a complete painter's palette. Keen on her limits, but, oh, give her a challenge! An artist, a scientist, smart as a whip... Continue Reading →
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 →
It is Flag Day, and I am playing hookie. There is absolutely no connection. I am merely elated (odd juxtaposition of words) to have a quiet morning alone in my temporary home in Sedona, which is a rare thing these days because I spend my weekends at my permanent home in Flagstaff, thus, I have... Continue Reading →
pocket poet 