You must've been a big man in the schoolyard. Yes- that is what I think when I watch you with others. Did you lie in wait for that puny kid who wouldn't fight back-who perhaps thought that this was how their life was supposed to be;who made up stories as to why they came home... Continue Reading →
Desperados
~I drove a car two hundred miles today. I know we're not supposed to hug, but a woman cried in my arms as I despaired for her world. She said you are my big brother, then pushed me away. At home, the cat follows me. There is food. What could he be needing?~
In print anthology
My story "When I wished upon a star" has been published by Gestalt Media in their short story anthology entitled "Best of 2020".
Hot gossip
I told you, from a distance, that I loved you, and was blackened with the earned shame of the illicit. Noses sniffed. Fingers pointed. Hands covered whispering lips. But you? You had a look of surprised wonder, and blushed redly, uncaring of the devil's radio.
Grown up
Kid I was when Dad got my nose showed how to take your thumb apart Oh, and the trick with the hats and cigarette butts How to worm a hook Bought a poetry book Must’ve seen my look Told me I must be a man Face the bullies Have a plan Double up that fist... Continue Reading →
Everything, and the kitchen sink
* Mental health triggers, suicidal ideation* God. You know, I'm just washing dishes, feeling useful and kind of self-satisfied. Haven't dropped anything or cut myself, even though the bothersome cat is weaving around my legs. I swear- if he had a ball of yarn, I would have been a coccoon by now. See, it's the... Continue Reading →
The road is long
In fable days I took a dare to try the mortal maze They shut the door when I went in to walk its narrow ways I felt a fool and out of school unlearned in errantry and suffered doubt and went without a thought of parentry The road is long I sing a song in... Continue Reading →
No words
Looking back, I think she was afraid when I saw her truth. We had never spoken, but in the group sessions, she surprised me with split second glances and strange blushes. Then, tables turned, I made a game of trying to catch her eye. Not a single word. That's how it goes. ...and then one... Continue Reading →
Puppers
We were nine. I believed everything you said. Touching a toad gave you warts. Step on a crack, you break your mother’s back. Kill a spider and it rains. We made grasshoppers spit tobacco, knew the divinity of buttercups, daisies, and dandelion chains. Such puppies in love.
Hurry hard
Each of us wanted safety.Father, from trouble’s horde.Mother, from father.We chickens, from the storm.All of us were running,and love was hard pressed to keep up.Adolescence held confusion, guilt,and strange desire.I looked for yellow bricks,on the cusp of a fireworks life.
AreMyFeetOffTheGround 