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.
Shamblings
I taped my mouth shut for ten years, ‘til a professional told me it was wrong, I should wean. There were pills, too, that hypnotized the disobedient sleep, then upsold themselves. On my knees, I considered cuts, and reached for a siren’s call. But here now today biding time.
AreMyFeetOffTheGround 