We all face each otherThe sun going downNot as wide a circle as it used to beNowadays a bit windedThe…
Sunset
I have to be on a south side beach to experience the glory of a Hawai‘i sunsetAn unobstructed view between…
Hard Paths
The hardest path is sometimes the shortestTruth to be told or a falsehood to concealHeavy heart and conscience plaguedIn either…
The Getaway
When I look back, over my shoulder, I see ours had to be the sort of loveThat must be transitory,…
Word Picture
The urge of whirling stars told me sleepingI should write about you today but I only seeA coursing down of…
Midwestern Return
With the windows up it’s so quietThe dead and I can only hear the engine humThe AC pump purring its…
That Unkind of Call
When people still had landline telephonesSometimes I wanted to throw mine out the windowThe last time we talked, he told…
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…
To Books Never Read
The shelves, like his mind, are stuffed with booksAnd there are piles of them, neatly stackedOn tables throughout the houseMore…
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…
Dirt
This morning, running the vacuum in the living roomThe face of an old flame popped into my headAnd for a…
Groove
You pause a beat from being yourselfTake a sharp breath as you put you on holdLift the needle that vibrates…
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…
Identity
“Is that true?” they ask, when they want to knowAbout poems I’ve dreamt off somewhere to catchWords snatched at “a…
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…
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…
Life Masks
In art class we memorialized ourselves making plaster face castsA time stamp to last over all our years to comeOur…
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…
On Seeing Hiroshige’s Sudden Rain
The seven on the bridge must deal with storm circumstancesBeings battered by a fearsome downpourCaught in the sudden deluge, some…
A One, and a One
You try so hard to separate the singer from the songThe perspective you consider off, bizarre, or wrongAgainst everything you…
Lanning Lee 