No Respite
We all fall down. Like that. The time in the supermarket burial ground, among the tilting shelves or stones, the abandoned mop or mower in the middle of the aisle of tall weeds, the...
Category: The Word from Pandora’s Tavern
Nothing’s Settled
A week of rain, then it’s “Severe clear!” as the pilot was wont to say. Mornings like this, not a cloud in sight. Soon enough, wouldn’t you know it, they gather. The forecast is...
A View
I look out this window my father looked out maybe I don’t know his last years weren’t that good he was probably looking elsewhere inward I guess that’s what I’m doing here looking the...
Oneself And Those Circumstances
Another day. First of May. Windows wide open. Offer incense, none taken. Morning zazen. “Your connection was interrupted. A network change was detected.” Who invented owls? Still no right answers to the wrong question....
Night Ride
This is your receipt, not a ticket for travel. Please proceed. Ignore the rubbish tip, the vulgar negligee of fencing. The camera has no eye. The gate is open. Birth-toss out on a limb....
Training Ground
Today it’s called “history”. Tomorrow, it’s lost in the weeds. The day after that, it’s once again pristine.
Rules for the Mystical Poetry Contest
Michael Ruby and I spent a Sunday afternoon in late April talking poetry at his farmhouse. We took a long walk in the woods and heard birdsong and worried about ticks in the grass....
Even in Arkansas
Another ambitious morning of April, the usual idle reading, now it’s the dictionary—a reach, a stretch, a flip of the pages—a big book after all, to arrive at—Oh! the “wood-thrush”! Not our feathery friend...
Sun-Turning, Dream-Turning Flower
Soon the trout lilies will be blooming in the Catskill Mountains. According to the Almanac of Persephone: “Their pretty yellow flowers follow the sun during the day and close at night, only to turn...
Cemetery: Selected Rules & Regulations
Indecorous. Unpermitted. Abide. Flowers. Shrubs. Boxes. Shells. Removed. Toys. Bric-a-Bracs. Shepherd’s Hooks. Other Hanging Devices. Expunged. Borders. Balloons. Glass. Coins. Disallowed. Photographs. Jewelry. Grave Lights. Out, Out! Cooperate. Enjoy. Comply. Thank you. Goodbye.