• Poetry

    Too Wide, Too Wonderful

    The Writer’s Blood in my fountain penmakes me question my worthiness.But when have I ever believed I was worthy? After all, I grew up in a world of wordsdescended from the litigious Latin language,which allows no dissent from the sentence…

  • Poetry

    Alphabetical by Author

    Some days I findone of my mistakesthere on a shelf,standing tall. A title and a nameremind me ofwhere I’ve beenand longed to go;what I may have needed,thought I wanted;who I tried to be.

  • Poetry

    Heliocentric

    Laughing at Icarus as you watched him fall,you built your fortress: a heavy investment in happiness.Imagining a life of light suffusing the courtyard,you made the walls high and covered the ground with mirrors. But the sun will not be told…

  • Poetry

    Autry’s Humility

    It was love and it was desperation.It was need and pure charity. It wasn’t perfect. Only God is. But it was enough to save a life. Thank you, Reynolds Price, for writing “Endless Mountains.” Thank you, Mom, Dad, God? Whoever…

  • Poetry

    Where Meaning LIVES

    We spend minutes, days, years,as if we are keeping score. Did you read the book,ace the test,.graduate? Who lives longest?Who keeps it together until...death do us part? How long until the nest is empty,the career is history,what you’ve sown is…

  • Poetry

    Tear It Out

    A poem from way back in June, 2016 Billy’s life of quiet desperationnever before concerned you,so why pretend to care now? I stepped in to fill the void you leftwhen you snuck away with Ted,taking with you all Billy held…

  • Poetry

    Answer Me This

    —A; —42; —3 hours; —the blue one; —true; —false We are assured the correct answers will get us through liferelatively unscathed. But where is that third-grade teacherwhen the doctor says it’s cancer? Is “A” really the right response when your…

  • Poetry

    A Team Sport

    Ideas about greatnessraise a racket andspin over the netlike a fuzzy green ball. Your serve.My return.Charge the net.Mind the baseline.Run. Hit. Win. Or lose. Just a game against a friendly opponent? Turns out I was trying to beat myself—in league…

  • Poetry

    A Story Told from Sanborn to Zusak

    (Bookcase Inspiration) Fools Crow about how they’re Educated, and it’swithin The Art of Possibility, but I wonder ifthey’ve merely been indoctrinated at The Devil’s Pleasure Palace.Might we be dealing with A Confederacy of Dunces, whosuspend Rules of Civility and build…