Issue 18: Spring 2023
Dear Friends of eMerge, Spring brings warmer days, longer days, brightly colored flora, April showers, and a new issue of eMerge! I'm delighted to present...
Honk! If You’ve Read Boot
The other day I was thinking of a new way I might promote my book, Boot: A Sorta Novel of Vietnam. My youngest daughter, a self-proclaimed computer Guru,...
Six Syllables, Two Words
When the doctor told me my diagnosis,I measured the syllables in each wordBi-po-lar Dis-or-derSix syllables, two wordsStars shatteredacross the blue of my...
How to Write a Book
Sit down. Don’t get up. Start. Keep going.It might be awhile.It’s the pond; is thata skim of ice still floating? Don’t test. Don’tlook closely. A foot...
Simplicity / The Cutting Edge
Simplicity is a capsuleHolding infinity.The Cutting EdgeBig talk from big lipsBig promises big slipsBig push for a big gripBig tumble into bigger dip.Little...
Slingshot
At first, I think I know a story and its timing, but then I don’t, and can only conjecture. There’s a lot that I cannot seem to recall with certainty about...
Innocence
We took her,Money was exchanged;Distraught, Innocence wailed all the way.Crushed by loneliness,The others shunned her;Suffering their own version ofStockholm...
Heralds of Spring
In March, the heralds of springseep through crackslike the oil spill from my ’65 Chevy.Their antennaes sniff out foodon the butcher block counter topto carry...
Two Suns
Falling off a cliffinto the dirt graymorning, shufflingaround until hot drinkand the book sits besideas the gold hair ofmorning falls acrossthe sky;...
Meandering in Blue
Am I blue? If you have to ask then you’re probably blue. Billie Holiday asked it. I asked it while climbing a steep hill in the Missouri moonlight. Am I...
Medication #1: The Sun
They say a little sunshine would help,“It’s just out there, don’t lose hope!”But the sun only blinds my eyes,and dries my throat.
To the girl I’ve never talked to
We only felt the same breeze,stared at the same star,held the same bar–frigid.We never talked,nor even spoke a word.But in my head,everything in my...
I am Dreaming, I am Dying
I am dreaming I am travelingI am dreaming a roadA new installment in a seriesof recurring dreams, I recognizesome turns, intersections, landmarks.My map...
Runway
The triple jump is track and field’s oddest offspring. A circus act. An intentional stumble done for distance. A Seussian hop, skip, and jump. But it...
Italian Basil-Walnut Pesto
Ingredients:4 cups Italian or Genovese basil leaves*3 garlic cloves, peeled1/2 cup chopped walnuts, toasted1/2 cup grated Parmesan-reggiano cheesezest &...
Under My Canopy
Prickly with a gentle touch.The sweet smell of childhood.Sap sticking to my fingers as I sweep the needles with my hands, making a bed to lay my head and be...
The Dinner Table
The moment doesn’t have to be exact.the dinner table isn’t quite sethell, might as well mix the forks and knivesfor the salad and steak,let a wine glass...
Nature Lurks
The smell of natureCraving the tensions of the rose waterLicked the motions desiresClear blue skyAnd the pineOn the hillsideThe symbolism is hiddenBut the...
Oh, Those Amphibious Legs!
Oh, those amphibious legs! Delicious fried frog legs! They taste somewhat like the other white meats such as fish or chicken. Frog legs have an epicurean...
A Calling to Return
I’m not sure why my mind keeps returning to my time on the hill, the remote hill in Vermont I so wanted to leave when I was eighteen and felt penned in by...