Poetry Month, Poem A Day, Poem Nos 18, 19, 20, and 21 Scavenger’s Daughter Their marriage was like a scavenger’s daughter, each day the pressure greater, doubling her heartache. She was broken, her ears bled. He said he’d let up. It was just that he hated his boss, job, dog, car, kids, the mayor. As... Continue Reading →
Poetry Month, Poem A Day, No. 17 The Twelfth Fret for Sandra The bridge was wide enough only for one dog and me, it crosses an arroyo chiseled out of the red earth like a wound needing sutures and waiting for the flood. “D’ya see those concrete blocks?” a hiker asked waiting for me to... Continue Reading →
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 →
TRAINS I consider Flagstaff, Arizona as the town where I grew up, the second time. When I left Detroit and all of its big, and its loud, and its chill-you-to-the-bone winters, for Anne Marie's first relocation adventure, I didn't know how hard I would fall in love. That little town had me, hook, line, and... 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 →
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 →
You bathe at the banks of the Verde River, Blue, you strike a deep note beside the muddy timber of green reeds that don't hide you when you leave. Those wings reach the edges of my curiosity and I am only brave enough to inquire of your disappearing shadow: "Why do I wait for next, Blue?... 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 →
The dark air has pinned me warm sheets like batter nothing moves but the dog he hears my eyes open his nose meets mine on the edge of my crumpled bed 'what's next?' he wonders me too. The big questions take hold why now, I'm tired, they insist on answers immediate accurate, polished. I won't look, I won't.... Continue Reading →
pocket poet 