When I was 21 I went to Europe on a five-week student tour with my best friends. On our last day we were in England, and we went on a boat ride down the Thames to Greenwich. I have several memories of that day, a few funny stories, conversations, photos, but there was one image … Continue reading Sheltering-in-Place
For Saint Patrick’s Day, I thought I would share a bit of Irish history (sometimes called mythology). This poem tells the story of Patrick’s encounter with a poet named Oisin. Oisin (pronounced O-sheen) was the son of Finn MacUail (pronounced M’Cool) who was a great warrior. Oisin was the poet who recorded his father’s great … Continue reading Oisin and Patrick: an Irish Tale
Admittedly I wrote this just to get my writer friends to laugh. Hope you like it too. Written with the prompts: please miss me, man named Stephen, eternal spring, press on, family tree, did the love live?, pie dough apple sauce, this is where, Buddhist cat, one minute prayer, then the wolves came, clap on clap … Continue reading A Man Named Stephen
Her mother named her Cheetah, hoping she would grow into a long-limbed, fleet-footed woman, but she developed broad shoulders and rounded haunches like a raccoon. Her father called her Chee, as if it were a nicked name, a shortened version of her totem animal, but Cheetah knew he meant Chi, pure core energy. She wanted … Continue reading Predator Heart
Written with my Thursday group with the prompts: a blur from the beginning, among the garbage and the flowers, half tempted, they’ll never understand, new normal, Margaret needs her own room, I love the stars too fondly to be fearful of the night, fireworks in Madrid, red eye, not fragile like a flower, fragile like … Continue reading Searching
This is a re-run from the early days of this blog, but still topical and seasonal. Enjoy! I pledge allegiance to this sand and gravel road that runs between the river and my house, clumps of California poppies rangy stalks of fragrant fennel burgeoning fig trees that grow wild on the river bank. I pledge … Continue reading Happy Birthday, USA
Warning: spoilers ahead. I’ll wave a red flag when we get close, but stay alert. This book made me very sad. I don’t know why I’m surprised, it’s right there in the tittle. It’s not that I can’t handle sad—I mean, I’ve never missed an episode ofThis Is Us. But this book made me feel sad … Continue reading The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake (a book review)
Prompts: Still a vigorous man, three doors where your life is headed, work clothes come off, modern attachments, the French was on the boards, ride my indoor bike, mosaics with flowers, part of the humor of everyday life Madelaine sat in a straight-backed chair, arranging the broken pieces of crockery into a pleasing design on … Continue reading The Humor of Everyday Life
Written with my Tuesday group with the prompt: traditions that become oppressive! Long ago, in the pagan cultures of the far north, work and travel were severely limited by cold and snow as days grew shorter. Farmers and their families would remove a wheel from their carts as a sign of surrender to the great … Continue reading Meditation on an Advent Wreath
One day, before our writing practice, most everyone in the writing circle professed ignorance of the modern tradition called “The Elf on the Shelf.” Although I am no expert either, I found myself compelled to write the following. The elf appears mysteriously on a shelf in homes where parents deign to invite him in. “This … Continue reading The Elf on the Ledge (copyright pending)
