The Book of Time

He held the book that had been hard to find and might be harder to read. The old man in … More

Jogyesa Temple, Insadong, Seoul 10.22.24

Before breakfast, I cross the street outside my hotelTo visit the Jogyesa Buddhist Temple People of all ages and economic … More

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

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

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

A Hawai‘i boy spends an autumn weekend farming in WisconsinReplaces fence posts, pulls tree stumps using chains and a tractorCuts … More

They sat and smoked the cigarettes they’d rolledLaughing softly about the way the grass grew hereCompared to how it waved … More

All of them, like brilliant dominoes, lined up in perfect rowsColumns of names carved in stone, these markers of soldiers … More

I remember how I lost my teeth, the wisdom onesAll four at one blow to a drillAnd on a tray, … More

Remember the day you and I dug the pits at Castle Memorial?How you pinpointed the distance with a tape measureMaking … More

When I do something now that I did 40 years agoWith the same ease as back then, I’m sometimes amazed … More

I know every star you will see tonightAll of them being born in times after meSoaring only by my design … More

There used to be only a just bearable fewNow there are an unbearable few hundredWitnessed in the dreaded half dark … More

It should be calm here and soothing as the waves break tonightBut there’s a tension, not romantic, in their rigid … More

The road has been some sort of songLonger than the 45 I thought it might beCloser to the beginningAnd winding … More

My mom’s ‘ukulele, a Martin, very rareSits on the piano she also played The ‘uke was her favorite instrument There’s … More

I was a shy wannabe dancer, one who has no rhythmBut then I met you, infectious boogie-woogie flu A dancing machine … More

We run together in the strong windThe two of us launching my first kiteHe’d made for meCutting and gluing the … More

My maternal grandmother often went to Queen’s SurfWhere she’d sit and feed the birds They recognized her and would flock … More

When he stepped out of his carI stood still in Mānoa Shopping CenterI thought he was Tom SelleckBut on second … More