Ultimate

Ultimate Dave — he gave himself that name — is bragging again. “I’m the king of ultimate frisbee,” he proclaims, … More

Ode To Winter

The first time I came home for a Christmas breakHaving endured a frigid Midwest fall semesterThe coldest on record, my … More

The Circle

We all face each otherThe sun going downNot as wide a circle as it used to beNowadays a bit windedThe … More

Sunset

I have to be on a south side beach to experience the glory of a Hawai‘i sunsetAn unobstructed view between … More

Hard Paths

The hardest path is sometimes the shortestTruth to be told or a falsehood to concealHeavy heart and conscience plaguedIn either … More

The Getaway

When I look back, over my shoulder, I see ours had to be the sort of loveThat must be transitory, … More

Word Picture

The urge of whirling stars told me sleepingI should write about you today but I only seeA coursing down of … More

Midwestern Return

With the windows up it’s so quietThe dead and I can only hear the engine humThe AC pump purring its … More

That Unkind of Call

When people still had landline telephonesSometimes I wanted to throw mine out the windowThe last time we talked, he told … More

Counting Back to Korean

There aren’t too many stars to countIf you believe in where you’re goingThe exercise of flying back to SeoulTallying suns … More

To Books Never Read

The shelves, like his mind, are stuffed with booksAnd there are piles of them, neatly stackedOn tables throughout the houseMore … More

Dear Reader, this is stuff that’s dry and boring

If you’re searching for some deeper meaning in this poemDon’t bother, Dear Reader, everything’s right here on the surfaceLike the … More

Dirt

This morning, running the vacuum in the living roomThe face of an old flame popped into my headAnd for a … More

Groove

You pause a beat from being yourselfTake a sharp breath as you put you on holdLift the needle that vibrates … More

Confessions of a Floss-o-holic

An obsession sprung from getting braces at 24For some reason, I’d never bothered to floss my teeth beforeI never seemed … More

Identity

“Is that true?” they ask, when they want to knowAbout poems I’ve dreamt off somewhere to catchWords snatched at “a … More

You Are a Star

It was the perfect way your body woreThe “I am a Star” T-shirt I brought to MadisonA collector’s item printed … More

This We’ll Sell

I ask why she’s visiting Hawai‘i, and she tells me it’s to see her brotherHe’s stationed at Fort Shafter and … More

Life Masks

In art class we memorialized ourselves making plaster face castsA time stamp to last over all our years to comeOur … More

The American Cemeteries of World War II

All of us have seen photos of tulip fields, vibrant colors stretching for milesNo need to see those in the … More