Coming Clean
Maybe it was the rain. Maybe it was the dog in the backyard (a Border Collie). Maybe it was that attic with the arched beams—solid. Climbing the steps, I...
2020 Sunsets - March - Beaming Ray of Hope
Introduction: The ‘stay at home’ regimen of 2020 due to the pandemic had many down sides, but it did have one upside for myself. Staying at home gave me the...
This Winter, the Ozarks Turned Off Hot
Women don’t sweat, they glow.said my Auntie, who died at seventy,a spinster who only had one lover—ever.This winter, the cold is sporadic.This winter...
Dorothy’s Discourse on Love as Poetic Theme
“Love Verse is long dead—only great truths stirthe pained world’s revolt”my miffed lover said,yet could not deter:“All verse is a cult…we thread words for...
Cranberry-Orange Scones
Ingredients:1-3/4 + cups all-purpose flour * (see step #5)2 tablespoons sugar (divided)2 teaspoons baking powder1 teaspoon ground cinnamon (divided)1/4...
A Poem (in explanation)
A poem worthkilling for isless than a poemA poem worthdying for ismore than a poemAll elseis a poem
The Herb Rosemary
against forgetting in a future, far away and unclear,it may hurt to remember,as now, the sting to envision what’s ahead, instead, aren’t we wired not to...
O! Christmas Tree
Whether ordained by Divine Providence or Chamber of Commerce edict, Florida December afternoons rank glorious. The sun shines nonstop, while windows and...
Daughters
Sitting in the neighbor’s rusted swingWith my daughter in my lap-Felt sad-Said the day would comeWhen I could no longer hold her. She replied,“I can sit...
Still Not Dead Yet
(The attached non-fiction essay currently appears in a compilation of essays titled Not Dead Yet (V2), edited by Daniel Krotz.)Standing in front of the full-...
PurrFect Priorities
Midnight at the computerAn A. M. deadlineMy cat keeps close watchMuscles drawn taut, motionlessBut for twitch of tailTremor in eye matching my hand...
The Trouble with Apples
Eve eats an apple (malum in Latin),fruit that’s forbidden, knows good and evil(bonum and malum), and things fall apart.Apple and evil—malum and malum.The...
You Know How it is...
(or Perhaps you Don't) I was hitching on the side of an inauspicious, unexpectant country backroad; two or three low-slung, long-eared, not leashed,...
The Dark Puzzle of My Brother Dave
The end came for my brother Dave sometime around Sept. 11, 2020, in a small apartment in Panama City Beach, Fla., that I’d never had the heart to visit....
Boxes in the Attic
filled with photographs,people I had never seen:my parents, happy, in bathing costumeson boardwalk Revere beach;father smiling and his parents,whom I never...
Bounce
I could love Jesus if He would love meas much as I love Him--I don't know whatthat means, exactly, but it sounds good andanyway it came to me last night ina...
The Backyard
It’s been years, decades, since I’ve stepped into my own backyard. Standing on the concrete slab connected to the back of the house, which had been my...
Little Brother
The only love I think I'll ever need is the supreme mutual devotion I share with my collie dog, Trigger. But when my baby brother is born, he is a miracle...
Pandemic #3
Living all alone, I was the only friend I had.Everywhere I went, I was always there.It’s where I learned a skill, I didn’t even know I had.To write these...
"Bravery Shattered It"
Inspired by the idea of breaking through barriers even in situations of uncertainty.