Unwound

My legs are tired, heavy.Each step’s more a slog.The clock slows down.Someone forgot to wind it.Used to stay on top … More

Beg Pardon

You use your arms to disguise your breasts as elbows,to stop the wind from licking at them,or cross yourself against … More

For my last birthday, I made a donation to the Hawaiian Humane Society.I’d adopted a dog in May and wanted … More

My dad had a store of useful phrases for any occasion.Most memorable for me was, “I need X like I … More

At that insightful moment in this wall-building exercise,I flashed upon those muscles allowing me to pick upthe next stone, that … More

For a long time you have cultured all these seeds,sprouted them like Mother Nature puttering herself,transferred them gently from little, … More

It’s the longest day of the year, in terms not about how your life is trending, but daylight hours. For … More

Many years have passed, and I still can’t get the image out of my head,all the broken glass I swept … More

Welcome, students, before we get started,I’d like to get to know a little about you.There’s an index card on your … More

A friend, a school band director, professional drummer, jazz fanatic, and high-end audiophile,reports he’s just back from a west coast … More

It was too good to be true, finally, my plan to retire on the Big Island.At 30 I settled on … More

I am but a lowly butter roll, sitting in this tawdry woven basket, on this threadbare pink linen napkin amid … More

I did not know what weather meant until I went to Wisconsin.Winter in Hawai‘i, more rain. Summer, more heat.Spring and … More

It was probably on a push-button phone.I remember how novel it felt to get one of those,replacing the rotary dial-up model that had … More

There are never more, of course, always only fewer, as it is in this life, so it goes, the some … More

I am standing in line for coffee. Even though the social distance floor dots have disappeared, everyone stands a decent … More

I can’t hear youYou say when you choose not to acknowledgeWhat someone has saidYou lie Over Zoom, FacetimeFake a bad … More

It’s that late hourBeer in handThe yard work done againI watch the close of the faded irisPurple and whiteNot as … More

These prints in the dust won’t last through a downpour Evidence of annihilation To be annihilated These tracks turning to … More

Turns the fingers, hands of sloppy, floppy people smudgy. Muck your hands around and blacken paper, shirt, cheek. Handwashers of … More