The Sirens of the Buffalo River
The androgynous sirens of the Buffalo River—they are not female destroying angels—appear to me in the full moon light around alternate bends in the...
A Good Idea
Could someone please tell me the nameof a bird in Oklahomathat makes a soundlike a telephone ringingin 1963 as you rush to itwith a good idea of who’s...
Weather-Related Joy
Beads of rain slide down window glassPrisms of colors reflecting backThe afghan made by a distant relativewraps my body in warmth and clarityEventually, the...
Dropping A Line
(An older woman, Dorothy, is looking with strong intent into her cellphone. She is looking at some instructions on a piece of paper and is following steps as...
Unicornly
Double-faced, someone stares at meWhat a non-pleasant face of mineWho am I, after all?Am I the one who fell in love with Venus?Look at me! You ought to find...
Fellatio in the Morning
Love is hardWe will never have what we really wantThat cotton candy sunset kind of loveFellatio in the morning loveSparkling clean bathroom loveBecause all...
Pantoum of Flooding Entombment
A river of rain runs,my shoes and socks are sopping.What a fun day. Childlike.Later, my face is wet; it is night.My shoes and socks are sopping.I peel them...
Haiku from Summer Walks
A little sunshinePeeking through the dark thick cloudsHope for a clear day.On a cloudy dayPleased to hear the birds singingBirds sang joyfully.Rays of...
Just Smile
The following is an excerpt from Out of the Delta.I was eating lunch in a restaurant when a dental crown fell from my mouth onto my plate. At the time I...
Confession of Keys
We dance together under couch cushions, while he curses blindly in searchof us.We tire of responsibility, chained to us as we are to each other, twelve...
Tree Stand
I sit high in a tree standif I was a child againI would climb these old tree limbsand never tire of being herenow I am oldas I sit here on my redwood deckup...
The Geometry of Life
After Mei Yao ChenThe night sticks to my skinlike tar. It surrounds me.It sucks up the light.I look for the moon or a star.They’re nowhere to be seen.My eyes...
Sunshine’s Little Sister
Shadow is the sunshine’s little sister.Shadow sneaks around and trails behind, sometimes peeking around to see what you’re doing.Shadow follows and will only...
The Confession
“Nurse,” my Covid-19 patient whispered through dry, sandpapery lips, “I want to make a confession.” Her words were simple, but the story which followed...
People Staying Busy
A buzz tells youThe nest has setNew hands so full of bloodCinched by them and tasting of old timesIt was whiskedFrothedWhen they miss youAnd allTurned upside...
Three Ways to Love Cauliflower
PrologueI have loved you from the start when I poked yourtiny seeds into the special soil mix and lavished careupon their sprouting and when I transplanted...
Jeff Day, Pilot
Jamming two full lives in one,everything a man could want: lovingfamily, a frontier home with wild musicfriends who played tunes fast. Work meantdaily...
Frank Soos
Finicky with words, he rearranged,rearranged, rearranged yet againand again. He sang a SouthernNorthern song because his deepknowledge was Southern and...
The abandoned house down Deer Nest Lane
concrete blocksstill hang onto their angle with sky,try to ground themselvesin who they are, scentof musty basement,moss texture,grotesque graffiti...
The Mango Tree
“The Mango Tree” is a fictionalized version of an actual childhood event recounted by Tushar.Tushar had wet his pants and was crying. His mother, Sanchita,...