Killing with Kind Words

Miss Lucy Pineda died two weeks ago. She was always Miss Lucy. Yesterday, there was a big neighborhood barbecue at … More

The Time of Hearts

It all changes slowly, the way we’re perceivedAs we do become more than we first meant I hear now before I … More

Coming

The kind of laughterWe laughedWhen we were 21Drunk at 2:00 a.m.The loud kindOf who cares at that ageConfident and easyBouncing … More

The Toll of Travel

Near the trip end, a so long vacation of viewingtossed pasts like old glass broken to the bottomin blunted glitter … More

For a Little While

Each would fill eachTo brimming can as mayBut the momentComes, soon lost fingersThat slide betweenIndex and thumbA brief wax scentBreathless … More

Love’s Progress

You spot her on the busAnd from this chance sightingYou imagine the torment begins Initially, the symptoms are mildDo not … More

Nobody’s Business

These words came to me in an odd way. I have been to Baltimore, to attend a conference on disability … More

You Make Me Ill

Cindy and Jerry came to dinner last night, and it was awful. First off, Nani, my wife invited them behind … More

Unlikeness

Pick up the white sheetA song composed upon itHold it up to eye levelThe paper’s edge facing youA threat to … More

Vienna Waits

The bones of ancestorsPeace and good willWatch against darknessWarn against strifeWish enlightenmentWhen inquiry yields its wayAll mysteries recedeA greater distance … More

The Dark Is Stronger Than the Light Sometimes

Writing is stumbling through a dimly lit roomStubbing your toe on furnitureBanging into boxes to rummage throughGroping through drawersYour hands … More

Found Gold

I turn on my pillowTo her gentle pushSee in her eyesTheir shineA kind yellow glintOn a field of brownHow smart … More

Last Night

Scan the sky to grasp more stars tonightFit them in your pocket for a coming shower of lightAlways wish for … More

“Clear as Mud,” Episode 9 of my 5th Lt. David Chan Hawai’i-based mystery series, is now available on the Kindle Vella platform.

Don’t forget the lyrics to this song

It’s not just now; it’s been this way all my lifeSome mental disorder I only overcame by recitingLyrics until they … More

The Clear Blue

I strain to see the face, down there, from my tableAlong the mezzanine in the days when peopleSmoked up clouds … More

Luck

He tells us how lucky he’s been,how he’s dodged a lot of bulletsin his life, some just barely,but they missed … More

On Achieving Negative Space

When I eat now, I’ll leavehalf a sandwich or an applepartially consumed, bothbearing accusatory bite marks,the back half of my … More

On O‘ahu July 15 and 16, 2023 at 12:37 p.m.

Lahaina Noon can occur anywhereon earth should the sun pass overhead.In that moment it’s directly above you,you and nothing around … More

Walk to a Dreamless Sleep

Just before you sleepYou may hearThe road you’ve wound downTalk to youTell you the tale of your stepsHow it’s heard … More