Category Archives: Uncategorized

(for Kathy Keatley Garvey) The safest place for an aphid is on the backof a lady beetle, which seems dangerousfor the aphid, given the lady beetle’s voracious appetite for the little buggers.There’s logic in hiding in plain sight,just out of … Continue reading →

I bring home two bunchesof the unbloomed things,slender green pencils withjust a hint of what’s to come at the tips, their shroudedcrayon color that will, ina day or two, fluff into hotyellow skirts of daffodils, trumpeting spring throughperky floral bullhorns. … Continue reading →

We all bear the great weightof unseen somethings. For you, one hand hovering overthe avocados, carrying the great grief of how could that happen?that wasn’t supposed to happen. For her, pushing the denseboulder of a shopping cart seemingly uphill, filled … Continue reading →

You might cross that bridgewhen you come to it,or you might not. You, overburdenedpilgrim, a tiny bit broken,might hesitate, stop even, wondering what the nextright step might be. You,ferrying your own fragile heart—you, witness,caretaker of so manyothers’ stories. Take a … Continue reading →

adj: [yoo-də-MAH-nik] Conducive to happiness ••• A cloudy day,dry in our city whilesnow bombardsthe Sierra, and warmish,enough so that someof us remove ourscarves, our gloves, but we happily wearour smiles as we followShelley througha morning’s exercise, sitting sometimes,standing at others,as … Continue reading →

There is no ruler for love,no way to precisely measurethe depth and breadth and heighta soul can reach, just as you reach into the cupboardfor the glass with its fine red linesstair-stepping up its squatty selfthat measures only ounces,not devotion, … Continue reading →

Mine is four-footed and feline ancient,hopping up on the towel-covered boxnext to my desk, eager to join me— or the banana nut muffin I havethoughtlessly moved out of her reach.Poki is old and limpy, but if I get a muffin … Continue reading →

Three chrysalises nestle on a leaf,a trio of Taylor’s checkerspots, once thought extinct. But, pupa by hard-shelled pupa, the former caterpillars wound into their spotted sheathsbusily go about the earnest business of growing wings, of becomingfliers, thanks to thoughtful humans … Continue reading →

heading into the post office to mail a book,and there, next to my car, it lies face up, hearting at me. I blink, begin walking, butafter three steps, I turn and return to bend and peer more closely—a lone cookie … Continue reading →

populating Trader Joe’s,reminded of the beauty ofthe slightly crooked nose, the extra chins under dark-pupil’d eyes, the crinkles ofcountenance that show our infinite varieties of human,the spice of life in everyone’s DNAright there on Aisle 4 where I reach for … Continue reading →