Writing
2026
The Bailiff
“All rise!” the bailiff announced after he entered the rustic courtroom even though he was the…
My Melancholy Manifestos
My melancholy manifesto starts with a trick question. How does a man allow his identity to get…
In Our Time
In this ignominious time
I have turned 70.
The world is a sore.Significance
The most important thing to know about prehistoric humans is that
they were insignificant animals with no more impact on their environment
than gorillas, fireflies or jellyfish.Pain
“On a scale of one to ten?” the doctor asks. Not good at estimating, I say “five,”…
Crows evacuate
their fire-seared Douglas firs.It Is Important to Understand
Everyone you meet is suffering:
heart breaks, body aches,
the cruel despair of war.My (Bleep) Like a Night-Blooming Cereus
this prolific southern semi-tropical plant
whose petals beg a magic recall of flowers
each year for a single night, a powerfulSelf-Indulgence
Let me pose a question. If you, by chance rode the
cross-town train to the downtown station and, due to
over-crowding, found yourself sitting next to yourselfThe Coriolis Effect
My wife doesn’t laugh at my jokes anymore, and I’m not sure if that’s because they’re no longer…
The End of the Week in Me
Dazzlingly authentic first thing in the morning,
this nude scene is justified, if the curtains cannot censor
No red light hangs around here, it is time to reclineHeading for the Flavor Core
No more silken circumstances,
my relations are going methodical, getting credentialed
no future contacts dreamed up,Just Passin’ Through
Missing:
Old Spice, your beer can collection, hours, tomatoes, my mother’s red lamp,
friends, manzanita, glasses, warm hands: lover-sized.You Don’t Know Me
United Transcontinental Flight 117 raced from a dawning sun. Descending, the aircraft surged,…
Meandering Matters
After another duplicate banishment of sunlight,
the courtyard fills with metal cans scraping along the concrete
echoes of the week’s indulgences are now being hauled outA Pledge to Meet in September
Boneless and beautiful, the equinox morning seems ready
and open for restoring balance, a moment of clarity,
maybe a chance to find whatever health I’ve recently lost