Impermanent Ink (Blue Period)

You sent me the self-portrait in a card once, maybe 1980. You are lying on your stomach, propped up on … More

Now and Then

We sit sipping coffee.  Awkward.  Growing cold. My son and daughter, I say, in their 30s, have given me three grandchildren. I … More

To the Rescue

You didn’t finish the yard work, only half the bedroom’s painted.Dishes lie in the sink, and you hear the bathroom … More

No Movement

A ballroom exists, a heavenly one with a perfect floor, wide as the universe is wide,where the likes of Ginger Rogers … More

Earth Day 04.22.2022

Happy Earth Day to you, Earth. Our apologies for everything we’ve done to you. We wish we could go back … More

A Snail’s Pace

Contemplate the snail, any kind of snail.More than 40,000 snail species slowly roam the earth,all peacefully paced, wending their way … More

Episode #19 of my current Lt. David Chan Honolulu mystery series is available

What the Cat Typed

I jolt awake in the dark.Well, it would be dark except my computer,as have I, has come out of sleep … More

Some Peace

We meet our elderly guide in the late afternoon,the graying skies adding to the somber atmosphereoverlaying the double-named London/Derry landscape. … More

Stories of My Grandmother

Sometimes my maternal grandmother visits me,I’ll come awake gradually, know she’s sitting there,silent guardian at the foot of my bed, … More

We Meet

That night I saw you firecracker starburst red,ablaze in a beautifully carved body,an exquisite silhouette scribed against the dark,your hand … More

Transistor Days

On the square, silver Sony radiowith the cheap black leatherette wrist strapI always feared would snap,our soundtrack falling lost into … More

It’s Not Me, It’s you

It’s been a while.I wish you were here.How have you been?Life hasn’t been the same without you.Do you miss me?Do … More

Too Patient

It’s been harder for me to step across that line.You’ve been waiting there for me for such a long time.If … More

Family Tree

I’m sleeping, I think; this has the vivid feeling of a dream.Before my house was rebuilt, a huge mango tree … More

How To Screw

In my younger days, it was so easy, so straightforward.Really, in my house there was only one way to do … More

All the Hours of the Day and Night

I don’t know which of the 12 hours I love more,the half that’s a.m., or the half that’s p.m.I’d always … More

No More Nice Things

Crayon and magic markers that never came off the walls;paint on the carpets and doors;knife and screwdriver carved furniture and … More

The Fruits of Love’s Labor

May I write a song for us?Maybe about our family tree?How about our hawking birds and stinging bees?The scheme of … More

Not Everything Is Broken

If I were Bob Dylan, I could tell you everything that’s broken.If you know that song, you know his list is … More