Looking Down the Road

This week, I’ll attend a funeral for one of my uncles. In 2024, I attended two funerals for two other uncles. I have lost relatives before. But losing these uncles has caused a shift in my life: of the adults I knew while growing up, half are dead. This has brought a different kind ofContinueContinue reading “Looking Down the Road”

The Clock Ticks

Writing is a process that even writers find mysterious. There’s no one way to write. Every poem is its own journey, and I’m usually discovering what a poem is as much as writing it. There are also many ways to approach writing. Often I start with an experience or idea I want to capture inContinueContinue reading “The Clock Ticks”

Jays and Nuthatches

Officially, it’s been fall since September 22nd but with temps in the 70s and 80s, it hasn’t felt like it yet. Still, fall is hinting to summer that it’s time to go; leaves are already on the ground, and it was in the 40s when I got up yesterday. I’ve paid more attention to birdsContinueContinue reading “Jays and Nuthatches”

Empty Hands

Well, this post could be entitled “Empty Head” because I forgot to post this morning as usual 😆 I am also posting from my phone as our power is out (wifi is down!) Oh well. Below is a selection from my newest book, The Anonymity of Waiting. It is a meditation on change and lossContinueContinue reading “Empty Hands”

This Land

In other posts, I’ve talked about poems that take years to finish. Today’s poem, “This Land,” is one I started writing in the mid ‘90s but didn’t finish until 2020. Over the decades, it went through many rewrites, none of which I was really happy with until the last one. “This Land” was always meantContinueContinue reading “This Land”

Empty Hands

Change is something we all live with. It’s inevitable, and we react to it in our own ways. If I’m honest, my reaction is often grief, or, at the very least, reflection. The longer I live, the more change I go through. For me, that means a lot of grief or reflection, even over thingsContinueContinue reading “Empty Hands”

Snow at Grandma’s

Right after I decided to share this poem, I realized it might raise an eyebrow to post a poem about snow as we’re heading into summer temperatures 🤨 But maybe this will help someone stay psychologically cool 😁 “Snow at Grandma’s” was part of my first book of poems, The Wind and the Shadows. SnowContinueContinue reading “Snow at Grandma’s”

Visionaries

In my neck of the woods, we are staggering towards fall. High temps lurch between the upper 80s and mid 70s but the lows are in the 40s. A few leaves have already fallen. “Visionaries” is a poem I wrote in the early ‘90s. It isn’t in any of my self-published books, but it isContinueContinue reading “Visionaries”

Alarm Clock

My daughter is a senior in high school. Next month, she and I are visiting the college she plans to attend. Adulthood is closing in fast. Before long, the days of having “my little girl” at home will be past. I’ve hardly begun to accept this fact. Thinking about my daughter growing up reminded meContinueContinue reading “Alarm Clock”

The State of Mercury

Back in May, my poem, “The Vineyard,” was published in Heart of Flesh Literary Journal. Through Heart of Flesh’s editor, Veronica McDonald, I learned about chapbooks. A chapbook is a short book of poems (usually 20-40). Often, the poems touch a single theme. In the next few months, I plan to self-publish a chapbook calledContinueContinue reading “The State of Mercury”