Yay! Episode 3, “Mr. and Mrs. Claus,” of my current Lt. David Chan Hawai’i-based mystery is now available on the Kindle Vella platform.

Easy Money

The way the old woman stared at him, it was as if she was looking right through him. Like she couldn’t…

When I understood he understoodI answered him with OkayThe blank expression on my faceDisguising my anguishAt his answer of OkayA…

You chill me ocean coldThe moon unsettling nightAs you draw back your handI glimpse a raw dawn horizonOur years will…

Today in my yard a mynah birdCalls its characteristic chirpFrom up in the mango treeI don’t see them displayed in…

Teaching tough kidsIn a notoriously tough schoolCan be tough on you It was well knownHe only came to campusFor my…

She aids my writing in many waysJust soI’m raking up some leavesWhen my neighbor’s black catBig BoyTears across my pathWitness…

Funny how memory can play the roleOf a well-meaning deceiverWhisperer of white liesWeaver of softening patternsRounder of rough contoursA childhood…

The night opens my eyesAnd awake will see into the darknessIt’s not that kindSo solid it’s like beingConfined in a…

I hand-built this pitcher with care for youDid not thrown it mechanically on a wheelBut the hairline cracks from the…

My third grade teacher, Miss Reed (Read)Told my parents that I did not read at grade levelShe asked them if…

It was always like, Hey, brahThe f-ing moon’s setting on usWe gotta get outta this placeBecause our folksAre gonna freak…

I’m the flower pinned to a party wallI’m the violet that always shrinksI’m hardly the life of anythingIt’s a bit…

Every slice of frozen timeHeld up to the examining lightHold your place in itWith a wrinkling index fingerAnd crooked bonedWhile…

I have grown built to wait silentlyTo be played with by someoneA green Army man with green rifleStanding on his…

When I was a kid in HonoluluEvery funeral in town it seemedInvolved a huge motorcadeThat moved by in slow motion…

If you’ve ever said that X is/was refreshingAnd you meant it seriouslyI wasn’t there to hear itAnd don’t actually know…

A dazed light reflectionSun glinting on its fast free runUnleashed across the sky refractionArc of a bright bird winging onTo…