Category Archives: Uncategorized

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 →

(Interior live oak, Quercus wislizeni) Hey, big fella—yeah, you big,shaggy live oak—nice to see you craggy-barked behemoth, you.How’s your year been? Sorry I haven’t been by to chatlately. I’ve been walking other parks, taking different avenues,chatting with you elder statesmen. … Continue reading →

At the VFW hall on a damp Wednesday night,Ma sings tenor with the gals and the guys,with approximately 1,800 years of barbershopharmony in their hearts. They sing the oldies—the real oldies—for the cowboy-themed recital:“Home on the Range,” “Don’t Fence Me … Continue reading →

(Sacramento, California) We still have roses.we still have pale asters,and the neighbors’ leapingcosmos and white azaleas roses in fall yellow and orangeare blooming as if they thinkit’s April. At this latitude in lateOctober, some of us think it’s spring, never … Continue reading →

You head outside and walk pastthe ruler-straight line of the frontyard where it meets the sidewalk, and there, atop the profusion oflava rock not far from the bushof the same name, lies an errant chunk of lavender sidewalk chalk.You stop, … Continue reading →

(for Walt Wiley) Mr. Wiley used to call me now and thenfrom his desk at the local newspaper.Good reporter that he was, he knew justwhen to catch me between classes, often sitting in my office with a student journalistediting the … Continue reading →

You’re walking along a sidewalk,scuffing over divebombed leaves,more of them every day, and yourfeet brush an ordinary page, white, dirty, a piece of clear tapeaffixed to the top, and you stop,look down, to see faint writingthere, in wobbly pencil: miny … Continue reading →