Category Archives: Uncategorized

(for Ursula, who said, “This sounds like a poem”) For a long time I shut mypoetself tightly in a closetcrammed full of miscellaneouswords and stray lines, and over the years it gotquite crowded in there,just me and all that verbiage.And … Continue reading →

They once looked so much alikethat they had a hard time tellingthemselves apart in photos. I stood on the right, Mary wouldsay to Sheila, and the identical girlswould agree—that’s you; that’s me. Seeing them is a highlight of ouryear—Sheila does … Continue reading →

for Mom and Dad,one here, one always in our hearts Of course, I wasn’t there,but I see them in the photo—her, slim, dark-haired and lovelyin her sleeveless tea dress with the floral lace overthe foofy skirt, as her eventualdaughters would … Continue reading →

Six neighbors head outon their morning stroll assix of us oldies work outto the oldies with Shelleyon Marilyn’s lawn. The couple across the streetemerges from their house, eachholding onto a leash-tugging dog,and two leashless cats trailinga good distance behind,like teenagers … Continue reading →

We hear about the late ones—maybe we are the late ones—but the early ones presenttheir show-offy selves on datesthat seem too early, but really, they do this every year,I remind myself. The Yuletidecamellias appear for Christmas,and by February, their cousinshang … Continue reading →

for Rebecca Made by her mama in Grandma’sJello mold, just the way G made it—with canned fruit and whipped creamto dab on top— served at her mama’s house aftera fine dinner out, a childhood favoriteof this kid now 45, tall … Continue reading →

for Mary Tsukamoto (1915–1998) The sweet-faced older womansat with me for hours tellingthe story she’d relayed hundredsof times. She taught me the word “redress”the same year she testified beforeCongress, quietly but firmly,one of 120,000 sent into exilein 1942 for the … Continue reading →

Don’t let them tell you poetry is for the birds.—Lawrence Ferlinghetti(1919–2021, owner of City Lights Booksellers and Publishers) But it is, Larry. (Can I call you Larry? I’m sure I didn’twhen I interviewed you years ago atyour place—half bookstore, half … Continue reading →

C’mon, you can do it.Put a little love in your heart.Spread it around on this daythat celebrates the simpleact of being kind to others. Let’s make the worlda little brighter, a little betterwith a gentle gesture, a smile,a friendly word … Continue reading →

Inside the river there is an unfinishable storyand you are somewhere in itand it will never end until all ends—Mary Oliver from “What Can I Say” Of course, the river’s story never ends,even if its bed lies dry and stony—it … Continue reading →