Category Archives: Uncategorized

I appear in a selfie takenby a 50-something woman witha Hawaiian-style backpackand her turquoise T-shirt’d fellaas we stand in line,waiting to board the plane. She holds up her phone,takes a photo, and in the small screenI can see my face … Continue reading →

(for Terri, the day after her birthdayas I arrive for an in-person visit) ••• We visit now, sometimes write together,onscreen, my distant friend, but somehow the miles melt as we talk,as Quince makes an appearance, as our long conversation continues,not … Continue reading →

(for Jill) Jill brought me a single sunflowerthe size of a bread plate, a smallorange stop sign atop a sturdy stem. “I wanted to bring you the whole thing,”said the flower-grower, beaming hersunny grin, “but it wouldn’t fit in my … Continue reading →

Green BuddhasOn the fruit stand.We eat the smileAnd spit out the teeth. —“Watermelons,” Charles Simic I heft the perfect orb in one hand,the size of a cantaloupe butcrocodile green with alligator stripes,smiling at its smooth-firmness,imagining the gifts inside. And I … Continue reading →

Woman becoming bird,bird becoming woman?Does it matter? Are we not cousinsto crow, crane, hawk,egret? Are our arms not growingfeathered, our bonesbecoming hollow, readying for flight?Have we not felt the wingswe’ve grown, lifting? Yes, we rise as omensof good fortune,of the … Continue reading →

(after Kathleen Lynch—and for her, too) 1. Go to the river.Hunger for the current.Lean into the water.Listen.Inhale the sounddeep into your being. 2. Find the smallest twigs.Construct a delicate frame,a basket to contain the tiniestof hearts and other organs. 3. … Continue reading →

one Sunday each month in the loft,and today, newly turned fourteen,about to start high school, she unleashes two new songs withdense lyric structures, packed withmature metaphor many older songwriters lack. She, fresh froma concert featuring two of her favoriteformer-boy-band-now-grownup singers, … Continue reading →

Stroke by stroke, lap by lap,we move down the lane. We sit, breathe, thoughtsflitting through like birds. Step by step our feet meanderor stride or, for some, run. Pick up the bat, throw the ball,let fingers press keys, whether clarinet, … Continue reading →

The tagline on the email grabs me, along withthe first sentence (as a good lead should): First, it races away unstoppably—then it seems to stand still. And I read, my own engine picking up speed,that our heartbeats can cause the … Continue reading →

The oldest of us—the great-grandma onher 92nd birthday— holds the youngest of us—the great-grandson—3 weeks old to the very day, on a perfect July evening undera sheltering oak older than any of us, the great aunt taking a turnin between … Continue reading →