Category Archives: Uncategorized

(for Dickie) Every time I do this inthe backyard, when I getto the back of your head, the strands gleaming like crystalfilaments in afternoon lightleaking through browning sycamore leaves, I admirethe circumference of yourscalp—a perfect half circle, actually—as if someone … Continue reading →

(for Lisa) The Sunday we fall back,after lunch and a play,Lisa and I walk my neighborhood with an eyeto the cloudy sky seemingto darken faster than usual. Time shifts always feeljarring for the first fewbars—as we old band people know … Continue reading →

Be a person here. Stand by the river, invokethe owls. Invoke winter, then spring.Let any season that wants to come here make its owncall. After that sound goes away, wait. —William Stafford, from “Being a Person” ••• (for Deborah) I, … Continue reading →

I can scarcely wait till tomorrowwhen a new life begins for me,as it does each day,as it does each day. —Stanley Kunitz, from “The Round” ••• I’m with you, Stanley,eager for the next day to unfold like one of those … Continue reading →

The country has just begun to put on her robe of tints. The earliest trees are decked in palest orange, working gradually into scarlet & crimson. It is like a sunset to see the earth & sky putting on the … Continue reading →

Her sunglasses, Faye told me beforeshe introduced herself, were Jimmy Choos,which sounded snazzy enough, but also sported gold bejeweled upper corners,which drew my eyes to hers. We sat inadjoining chairs behind matching counters across from two optical techniciansadjusting each of … Continue reading →

You write them every day?How do you write one every day?I read them every day, and I tell my wifethat we’ve got another one from the littlepoet lady. She reads ’em, too. Where do you get your ideas for poems?Whaddya … Continue reading →

You must hear that all the time,but you are, after all, a pumpkin. And no,I’ve not come to carve your guts outor wield a knife near your tough skin.I’m a big fan of your shape and yoursmooth texture, though your … Continue reading →

39 years ago tonightthey let me into the frigid roomwhere they were keeping you deeply sedated, your skin blueand clammy, barely alive afterhaving trouble bringing you back, with a wicked incision stitchedfrom collarbone to near navelwhere deep inside a small … Continue reading →

For years, men did this for me—my father, my husband, my partner. I’d blame it on my weak upper body.I can’t dig a hole for spit, especially in the clay that masquerades as soilin my back yard. And that’s true. … Continue reading →