The guy at the next table moans

His face contorts

He rocks back and forth as if something on his computer screen has

       poisoned him

If this were a hospital, I would ask a nurse to punch up his meds

but it is a coffee shop,

and instead of… Read full post »

It has been thirty-six years since I sang  "Julie Through The Glass" to my baby girl. The impatient and persistent child grew into an impatient and persistent woman, but for ten years of her life no amount of trying, lab tests and progressively aggressive procedures offered her relief.

By nature… Read full post »

I've read, although I don't recall where, that writers have only two themes—love and death. I think it's true. We will die, and until then we long for love, both coming and going. Our world is broken, so we race against the clock to heal a tiny corner of it, which… Read full post »

WOEAH. Ichabod. William Owen Ellis Alexander Humphreys. He was 6'4” and weighed about 110. He's the only man I've ever known who could cross his legs and still put both feet flat on the floor. He believed in England the Mother Country and in one Virginia (he was born in the… Read full post »

I kissed her

everyone knows

mmmm, I kissed her

she wriggled her toes

oh my, I kissed her

No, not there

but, I definitely kissed her

… Read full post »

(This is my offering for Jill McLaughlin's open call--poems using these five words: fire, far, spit, kiss, cloak. It was fun. Thanks, Jill.) 

Do me a dance

Sing me a trance

The moon's full over the bay

Let's make a wish

On silver-back fish

And glittering angels at play… Read full post »

On turning forty, a priest retreated to a remote hillside cabin for a week of meditation. It could have been a man or woman, high-ranking or low, but this priest happened to be a man who served a church of some prominence in a small city. From the cabin porch a… Read full post »

Today is Ash Wednesday, the beginning of the Christian period of awareness and spiritual renewal that culminates with Easter. Today is also the beginning of spring training. Pitchers and catchers begin reporting to their teams' training sites in Florida and Arizona. They will renew friendships and ri… Read full post »

From the tree, there's always a tree,

its limb extended like a father's arm

she swung, red hair flying, in extravagant arcs

from sky to sky, sky, sky, sky

approaching, never touching

the earth. He scuffed a root with a toe

and said “Hello”

Young

he saw his desire in… Read full post »

I was seven years old when, during a fast-pitch softball game, I watched my father slide into third base and not get up for a long time. I had yet to play my first organized game, to dream of actually throwing a curve ball, to fear the dangers of a… Read full post »

What is it about a wrinkled poop machine (that's “wpm”, for future reference) that forces us to say, “What a beautiful baby?” Is it like a rubber hammer and a knee? I can see “cute” or even “adorable” – that's your choice, and if it's your baby, I… Read full post »

It's baby time. Labor started at 3:30 a.m. At 9:31 we received a text from son-in-law that they were at the hospital. It seems the little scruffer is finally done with the prep work and is ready to start counting the days and years. I know I am.

In the family… Read full post »

The cars are loaded. We're down to the final items. We're moving for a month to a furnished apartment near our still-awaited grandson. It's an easy two-hour drive but much too far for casual baby-sitting.

So what does an expectant grandfather who likes life where he is take with him for… Read full post »

I like roots – potato, horseradish, tap and the kind you grow by staying in one place for a long time. Idleness suits me. When we're in the deep freeze as we have been the last couple of days, a warm, still hearth is a pleasure. I sit and look out… Read full post »