Category Archives: Uncategorized

Needing the waterbut far from the ocean,I take myself to the river closest to me,the same one that turns into a lakeby the house where I grew up,then is strained through the teethof a great dam and released to flow40 … Continue reading →

(for Dickie) Forgive me as I take againthe sacrament of avocado, which I know you finddistasteful, its texture lining your mouth likemushy wax. Even I object to an unripespecimen’s chalky taste, and if they go bad, theygo bad, baby. So … Continue reading →

Deep pink ones pop like over-inflated balloonsall over my front yard, as they do everywhere these days of floral abundance springing into action.I did not plant each geranium—my next-door garden goddess did from sprigs of her own plants—though the newbies … Continue reading →

(for Mom and Ashley, with love) The same Monday afternoon I cruiseplants in a nursery, I walk by a largeheart sculpture on an outside wall,and think, Nice, about to walk on. But something stops me, and Ibackstep to peer closely, … Continue reading →

I am terrible at games,even word games, which you’d think,wordy as I am, I’d cruise through like a Sunday spin over smooth road.Not so much, which makes no differenceto me until I take up a challenge to convene quartets of … Continue reading →

We whisper to the one setting off,one foot, then the other, whether into the labyrinththat will take them to the center or into the greater world.We infuse them with a bit of the holy that we all carry,on this walk … Continue reading →

(for Maxi) I’m sorry, dude, that I tried to pick you upand put you in the bathroom so a tall womanwith clippers could come give you a pedicure. And you cleverly squished out the doorthat I tried to close and … Continue reading →

The old one lies dead nearby,a 50-foot limp gray snake,all the air having left its bodyafter years in the back yard. I have not been able to remove it.What do you do with a hosepierced dozens of times by the … Continue reading →

You may have to breakyour heart, but it isn’t nothingto know even one moment alive. from “Any Common Desolation,” Ellen Bass ••• Looking at the baby on her 11th day in the world,you think, as everyone does, looking at suchpink … Continue reading →

Spring mornings I like to step outside,look up at the trellis over the driveway,admire the lavender clusters of wisteriahanging like ornaments of spring,fleeting as they are. The delicate petals have fallenon the windshield of my late mother’s car,the tiny cups … Continue reading →