Category: reading/writing

  • Tom Joad’s shovel

    in my compost pile of library books, magazines and family book shelves I searched tidal flats for signs of life with Steinbeck shared intimate secrets with Dickinson, Sexton and Edna St. Vincent Millay I gloried in myths and legions with victors and survivors studied the Bible to stay awake during sermons read dictionaries, Reader Digest…

  • Folktales among the disenchanted

    Enchantment arises From the disenchanted Magic is out there Waiting for words to congeal Write it down Future generations to marvel At our waiting to be disenchanted Before we find our magic 11-15-24

  • Reading the Iliad in Time of War

    reading the Iliad in time of war the blood, the corpses, the victors and the dead cities in ruins, captives carried away salvation snatched from the bowels of a domesticated beast bright sun makes pages glare and hurt my eyes I retreat to the shade the story never has a different ending discarded orange peel…

  • sharp pencil

    sharp pencil never scratched paper or became a well-chewed stub eraser worn away to nothing 1-27-24

  • Mary Shelly’s fishing lure

    a lure caught in low branches abandoned by its owner suspended in air left to gaze out at water just beyond reach unable to fish tiny glass eyes stare out begging for help I stare back with nothing to say 4-20-24

  • Dream #7,919

    I dreamed before Frankenstein’s monster was consumed, his pyre sank to the bottom of the Arctic Sea. He convalesced in the belly of a whale, sat in Jonah’s chair, ate leftovers from Ahab’s last meal, read graffiti left by Aristotle and Pliny, hired Pinocchio’s cricket to be his life coach and learned how to be…

  • Because

    Because I read the King James version of the Bible, I learned that half-truths and blasphemy can sound beautiful; because I read the stories of King David, I learned that a sinner could still be chosen by God; because I read DC Comic Books, I learned that even super heroes have their kryptonite; because I…

  • Only

    If I do not write about hurt, it does not mean I do not hurt. It only means I’m running short on time and need to focus on the positive. If I do not write about social change, it does not mean I am blind. It only means I’m working on myself, refining the cinder…