For one full week, the sun was dead, unloosening the gray,wild clouds that swamped each paddy bed— the plowman’s great dismay.The regal night sky, once agleam, was purloined of its stars.Each lane became a water stream. Dinghies replaced the cars.Mazdoors, waist-hidden, waded to their distant factory sites.The Tongas (since they... Continue Reading →
He put sugarin his coffee, sugarin his tea. Just picture it,then add more. He put sugarin his milk, sugar in his bourbon.Sugar was the largestingredient in all his recipes.Sugar in his spaghetti sauce, sugarin his chili. Sugar on chicken, fish and steak.Sugar on hotdogs, hamburgers and French fries.Have you ever seenanyone eat a sugar sandwich?I... Continue Reading →
I don’t know their names but I know their faces and they’re not here.I’d like to think that what is truecannot recede or be forgotten.Like faces. Like names. Like the lostamong us. The disappeared. Stolen.Beyond recovery. No longer recognized.Or just dead and buried.When the earthquake took awaymost of a nearby village and part of hers,the... Continue Reading →
that if I open the windowand hold out my handit would feel moonlightdelicate and invisibly softand if I spread my fingersthe moon’s light would softeneven more as it gently fallsthe rest of the way downto the snow-covered earthand simply whiten the snoweven more than it actually isand be welcomedalmost as if it had never gone... Continue Reading →
. . . perhaps a Paris very much like Paris or not quite Paris. --Herbert Morris. “Sophia and Marcello on a Bench”Perhaps Paris isn’t Paris at all, if it ever was.Just a twisted vine flowing up blue shutters.Before you arrive, it is no longer therewhich makes it convenient to invent.Like anything that can be... Continue Reading →
Maybe it’s as easy as this:knowing she will always be therewhen you come home.That she won’t have gone away,even thought going awaywas a place she could go to.And that she’ll knowyou will always come home,and she will look upfrom whatever she’s doing,or come from some inner room,to welcome you inas if it’s the first timeyou... Continue Reading →
It seems that every old guy still owns a guitar. In TV ads and influencer blog spots for everything from beard-dying to boner pills—there’s the guitar, on its stand or hanging against a wall like a piece of memorial art. I don’t know how many of those venerable axes ever get played. Very few, I... Continue Reading →
The piano,its dark wood alightbathed in brightthe light of herthe sight of herconsuming, her slim fingers,pastel shoulders looming,intruding in the brainthe kaleidoscopic musicmelodic, symphonic,tints purple and white andwildly illuminating as ifsound and vision crossedin synesthesia, in a seizureof convulsive delight-the imagery of mystery,whirlpool of affect,cascading perceptionof beauty, perfection.It was love that first night. Read More... Continue Reading →
Don’t break bones to make omelets.Don’t squeeze your heart in a citrus hand press.Don’t scissor-kick in tar pits.Don’t wade into recent history withouterasers and a dinner jacket. Rememberthe last one alive gets to run naked.Don’t let your desires pass overheadlike clouds where no one on the ground gets wet.Don’t dive without irritants in your mouthto... Continue Reading →
Son, take some initiative.As soon as possible, you shoulddress yourself. Here’s all you needto know: Tag in back.Stop waiting for your busy motherto wipe your butt, and perhaps avoidfuture hemorrhoids.Start brushing your own teethand avoid that bitter daywhen she was rushed and haggardand instead of toothpaste grabbedyour older brother’s acne cream.Don’t wear your underwear and... Continue Reading →
