Old Man Eating Alone in a Chinese Restaurant

for Billy Collins I can’t resist the temptationto write about you, old man,eating alone at the corner table in a … More

Do What I Must Do

If I’ve told these people once, I’ve told them a thousand times:let sleeping dragons lie, folks, for roused, they’re bad … More

Holy moly, how this warrior keeps waltzing out of hell;It would be a drag, I suppose, if he lost a … More

She’s one ugly mother, but I’ve witnessed worse,turned down dates with women not far from this foul.I have standards, you … More

I see him limp home, his arm torn from his shoulder,mumbling weird words about a mighty stranger,some foreign crazed killer … More

Now he knew he’d see anything coming.Whatever it was, it couldn’t hide from or surprise him.He’d been taken unawares before, … More

I saw his claws. They resembled handswrapped around a sword’s handle too tightly,bloodless white in the fearful death-gripof his cautions … More

He walked our hill with a cane, his limp noticeable.My father asked him about it.He’d been disabled in combat in … More

Bob’s alarm jerked him out of a bad dream. When he opened his eyes, he was saved from a grand … More

You look at me as if what you seeshould make you mean something moreto you than what you are. I … More

I know after the misty cranberry bogsof an early Minnesota morning, drivingeast at first light, Wisconsin’s waitingfor me, the way … More

The pain splatters my skin like the firstmonster drops of rain before the torrents.It happened so fast, I thought my … More

Adopted 15 months ago by completechance meeting. A Humane Society rescuefrom an abusive environment, she’s alwaysthere for me, my baby … More

I’m not sure why you and I called it a carpool. It wasjust we two, and I always drove. There … More

She turns both the box cover and bottom over, taps themon the coffee table, asks me did I hide the … More

For the first two years in Madison, I live in Susan Bradford Hall. It’s on Greek Row. Once a dorm … More

Sarah’s grave looks new, well newer, and spreads outto a green grass field, the unfilled spaces for future use,to be … More