“This historic heirloom was carried from Georgia to Oklahoma by members of the Cherokee Nation who were banished from their homelands by the U. S. government in the late 1830s. A sleek black bean when dried, Cherokee Trail of Tears can also be eaten fresh.” – Seed packetI buy them online, from strangerswhose faces I... Continue Reading →
Each week for one hour I tutor a third grader who is struggling with her reading comprehension. I do this through a volunteer program managed by the San Francisco public library system, called FOG Readers. I took a ten hour class to qualify, and was quickly paired up with a...
I.We suppress the collective realization thatwe’re all fools, some of us raging &some only somewhat so, but foolsnonetheless. Yet, we trust in the competence& excellence of random strangers.the mechanics weren’t sleep-deprived &hungover when performing the maintenancecheck for our flight. There were no loosebolts & nuts pocketed with aworld-weary shrug & half-hearted:eh, should be fine.II.That teenager... Continue Reading →
After the poem "Noon" by Louise GlückThey're older — elderly, really,but still before dying:that space of knowing imminent departureprior to evaporation.The small house breathes inthe couple's scent of soapand attic —early summer cool enough in the Ohio Valleythat the window units stay dormant.These two lead me to think all old matrimonieslive out beneficent, minimal lives... Continue Reading →
The blond tabby dartsacross boiling asphalt, hustlesits haunches right at the end before the curb & the whiteCadillac swallows it whole.Could I have closedmy eyes, contributed some cosmicnudge, sent a jolt into its hustle justa little more. Could I have bentthe rules of physics and ribbon the road aroundthe car. In this suburban jungle death loungesas though appeased,coils of... Continue Reading →
Watch a man in a hot dog eating contest:He soaks the bun in water and bringsit soggy to his mouth. Small quick bitesof the pink naked dog. Just last month, the skinnyCalifornia kid ate 76 hot dogs in 12 minutes.He also holds the records in waffles,chicken wings, Krystal hamburgers anddeep-fried asparagus. Deep fried! Asparagus!Last night,... Continue Reading →
He wouldn’t have stolen cigarillos when he was 16.He wouldn’t have posed on Instagram with his hands held like that.He won’t jog in the nice neighborhoodor be in the stairwell when the power’s outor knock on doors after a car accident.He’ll give them his ID even if in front of his own home.He won’t get... Continue Reading →
I’ve been down a roadwith wheat stacked on both sides,so I thank God for the scattered hillsand the small town wedged between them.Not that I don’t appreciate the country’sflat and endless bread-basket,but a slow rise does my concentration a favor,and civilization grants my wish.I can sit up at a diner counterand order a stacked BLT,as... Continue Reading →
"The man in the next bed died last night,"are the first words out of Ted’s mouth."And the guy in the next room early this morning."To Ted, it's more like a funeral home than a hospitalexcept, in this ward, the undertakers get the corpses prematurely.He has no doubt that he'll be nextdespite the medical staff’s comforting... Continue Reading →
argent agents of the night, spidershave no need for stargazing;I wonder still if they scrutinizethose shrouded skiesand fantasize—capture comets, never fliesdo those eight eyesconstellateto visualizeArachne’s shapeperfectly traced?I wonder if they recognize—or if they’d rather taste Read More in Poetry
