Category Archives: Uncategorized

Styrofoam cups, a plastic 7-Up bottle, a beer can And red and gold and orange autumn leaves Roll along the highway’s shoulder Gaily tossed by gusts of wind   What would fall be without Americans Tossing their detritus out car … Continue reading →

They were in the downstairs church bathroom, the five girls, preparing to don their choir robes. They all had walked to the church that September 15 Sunday morning, and the weather was hot, so they “freshened up.” And you just … Continue reading →

The pensive woman walks With a butterfly on her palm, She says the orange-spotted Beauty is dead But I see no torn wings, The great spangled fritillary Rests, waiting for the sun To pump fluid into its wings, And the … Continue reading →

The photo tells it all. A smiling mom posing with her teenager who is dressed in a police uniform like it was Halloween. And, for him, it may have felt like Halloween.  Next, he strutted through Kenosha streets with his … Continue reading →

The doe steps out of the woods Sees me then stops And watches I stop and wave her forward As if deer knew “go” signs And I watch   The doe steps across the path Stares me down And waits … Continue reading →

Entrant #1. Furled Yellow Leaf launches, four reverse inward twists in the river’s breeze, a record for the ages with a soft, balletic landing: 9.5   Entrant #2. Wizened Orange Leaf swan-dives— but tangles in a single strand of spider … Continue reading →

My great-great grandfather’s (of the Underground Railroad) Grave is on fire His bones feeding fire Pinnacles Where giant condors nest And set sail for the Pacific Are on fire Their homes feeding fire And the fire next time The human … Continue reading →

I tell my father, there is a cricket In the basement And he says it is cricket season, son I descend the basement stairs Stepping into chest-high water The washer and dryer drowned Electric humming I slosh around the perimeter, … Continue reading →

My friend Tom Ragin has died. I met him seven years ago, almost as soon as I moved back to Alton, at a YWCA Legacy celebration, at the Jacoby Arts Center. I was proud to have written parts of the … Continue reading →