Category Archives: Uncategorized

Dear Charlie, It has only been a month since you died. We all miss you very much. Sheila and Lorenzo and Don and Harold and Paul send their love. I thought I would catch you up, as I need to … Continue reading →

A two-story house in Chicago. My sister rocks in a wooden rocker, clicking her knitting needles but knitting nothing, chews on her cheek. She watches me. A plump young woman walks in from the kitchen, runs toward me with open … Continue reading →

Stillness, Saturday afternoon, the river was still and the sky. Even the creeks were still, and a lone old man sitting on a bench, paunch-bellied and bald and sporting a Santa Claus beard, glared at me wordlessly when I wished … Continue reading →

Dear Mr. Baldwin,     We have received your application to replace Betsy DeVos as Secretary of Education. While we laughed at your comment, “My left testicle is smarter than Betsy DeVos,” other aspects of your resume troubled us.   … Continue reading →

Brushing my old lady cat is a sensual thing, she turns on her right side switches to her left, electric purring creeps up my arm, tail tip whip-cracking and I gather up fur detritus into a ball on the oak … Continue reading →

The sun comes put And the fields are gold For five seconds Then the clouds slash back The sky eerily masked Brown fields grey and black Five days of gloom Five seconds of light And unrelenting rainFall

Protons It was the fifth day without sunshine, the fifth day of wind that crawls under your pant legs and stabs you and boils your face, the fifth day of cold rain, a day of wet squirrels and outdoor cats, … Continue reading →

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 →