The Color Green
Green is a very pretty colorIt is the color of grass and the color of leaves that grow on the branches of the tree.Green is the color of seaweed that moves...
Steps to Freedom
On the stairs next to the yellow kitchenI concentrate on laces that will intertwineas soon as I learn how to move my handsproperlyI watch my motherpinch the...
Secrets
The sensation of my step-father’stonguein my mouth is unnervingHe is testing meto see if I can keep secretsWe already have a pactunspokenagainst my motherIt...
Salina, Kansas
Some days you think you've found a center here, the middle of everything loving and true, especially if you look up into the sky, wondering what next. Such...
She Asked
She asked me why I’m leaving,The answer is muddied and transparent,I asked her why I must go,Because we are made up of our memories,Or of what we forget.She...
Rain Delay, diminished
"What to make of a diminished thing." - Robert FrostAs chin musicthis just won’t do, it’s out of tune,the weather’s tossed a spitball andas chin musica...
Rain Delay, impermeable
It’s a washout;yes. perhaps because it’s April,it’s a washout.There’s a whole season yet to scout,there may even be a game inMay, so here’s this inning’s...
Rain Delay, temps suspendu
"Things that fall, fly, move, and flow..." - Marcelo GleiserVertiginous,the way mercury checks itself,vertiginouscrevasses and avalancheshere suspended by a...
Rain Delay #2
Get over it:it’s spring, raining, you might think...no,Get over it:the prior inning’s flurries fitthe quadrant of the game’s reprise,the way an inning waits...
Peach Blossom Spring: On A Painting by Tao Chi
The mountains rise upin grim shapes,looming far abovethe workers and the monk,meditating in his cell.They ignore the towering rocksat their peril.What else...
The Year of the Mattress
Dean and I along with our Labrador-flat coat retriever mix, Midnight arrive at the 60+ year old cabin situated on Island Lake just at sundown. Oranges,...
Who is At the Door Now?
Just the wind reeding through,a token of the thunderstormin the tree tops, two thirds of the way upan Arkansas mountain of maplesjust starting to drop its...
Blessing
A stray drop of rain lands on my forehead,begins to drip. The sensation drawing outmemories of a plaid jumper, knee-highnavy socks, button-up white shirt,...
The Family Farmhouse
I’d loved the time spent learning to ride a horse, to preserve tomatoes from the garden, watching Cicadas unfold themselves from their shells. There were...
Man vs. Nature vs. Self
It is easy to sit yourself down andwrite about nature, because it issimple, but it is beautiful.Harder to explicate the spiralyour mind takes nightly.I no...
Sturnus
Harbinger of deathon wing and wind,the starling freelyentered my abode—seeking only safety.Quickly, though,it became like us—frantically searchingan escape.
Opportunity Missed
Longing tugs,want nudges,loss fills in every crack.Mist descends,slowly obscuresthe beauty of oceanglittering in sun.Suddenly sun,always sunabove, behind,...
Exiting the Airport in Mobile
The bath water airRelaxing and oppressiveHits me like chicken broth as the automatic doors slide openIt sidles up to me, forces me to drink tea, and curls my...
The Night We Never Did It
You had those pants on, and that shirt, and you were in those pants and shirt, and I didn't care that you were not quite beautiful, because when you told...
Early Morning
Cardinals come firstthis early morning withme in the backyard sittingalone with so manyvisitors.The seed awaits,inviting all to partakeof the bounty offered...