My guardian angel wasn’t there to protect meWhen my nose sucked in gobs of chlorinated waterMy eyes stinging and my … More
Category: Parents and Children
A Family Tradition
I remember, nearing the endBefore dementia overwhelmed himThe first thing every morningMy father read the newspaperTurning more and more oftenTo … More
I guess I must have known some of them
Photos of kids in the bathtub with othersCan make you reflect on your childhood and shudderHow could parents think this … More
Hum
I pass my hands over you in rhythmFigure 8s I gently rock to summon energyInfuse you with the lifeWhile outside … More
ThisClose
Once upon a time, my neighborhood was made upOf huge yards upon which rested grand homes Now, after all of … More
Math Rhymes with Laugh
The little girl’s eyes were riveted on the four objects her father placed in front of him on the table. … More
The Swans at Wells
An elderly gentleman beams red-facedNeatly bearded and dressed in a black tuxedoHe stands in the park feeding birdsBehind the Wells … More
Nothing Gold Can Stay
Every Sunday my post-church treatIs a jumbo dill pickle from Wally’s SuperetteI can hear them calling to meFloating in their … More
How Do You Do It?
It’s a big family reunion party, and I’ve not seen a lot of my relatives since I was a kid. The crowd … More
Iron Wrinkles
As I put on this aloha shirtI notice the collar’s not been ironed rightSomething my old eyes didn’t catch In … More
How I Grew
I remember the photo shootOnly because it’s burned in my brainFrom daily seeing myself posed in the frameDressed in little … More
The least I can do
In the last years I wonderWhy I have to do thisVisit in the nursing homeNow that your mind is goneAnd … More
Escaping the Tree
In my dream, I told Kimo and Alta to stay put. If that crying was the cat calling out, then … More
Life Is Pieces
My father swinging a pickaxe rhythmicallyUp over his head and slamming it downThe point piercing hard red clayBreaking it all … More
Remains
Butterscotch Life SaversOne of my dad’s favoritesI used to eat an entire rollEat myself butterscotch sticky sickI’m sure it was … More
Rising Star
Christopher Kalama was gifted. A Mozart, some people said. At three, he picked up his father’s ‘ukulele. It looked like … More
On Wisconsin
Once upon a time, there was a little girl from the west side of Chicago, City of the Big Shoulders. … More
Bed Bugs Bite
“Okay, honey, you’re all tucked in now, snug as a bug in a rug.” The little girl laughed. “I’m, not … More
To Reconnect
As the song goes, “They say that Maui nō ka ‘oi, and I agree.” Once upon a time, when he … More
What’s in a Name?
His parents had met at an estate auction, and it had been love at first sight. Both were passionate antique … More
Lanning Lee 