i feel inspired by a more than capable comrade (who has written observations on poets and poetry titled ‘how to be a poet. for idiots.’) to issue forth observations on gooder writing. i have from time to time been known to offer something or other to those who seek it. not all of this something [...]
Respect the Sun, Follow the Moon
The sun, steady in its season warms seed, breeds the mayfly ripens grain and dries the foal. It rises daily to show its faithful head earlier in summer longer to bed in winter bright faced or cloud veiled rarely eclipsed by the changeable moon it pursues its duty faithful as the farmer dedicated as the [...]
The Doll House
Fine furniture made in the late years between World Wars and marked “Germany” sits on tiny needlepoint rugs Mother made one summer. Rearranged first by me and then by the careful fingertips of daughter and granddaughters, miniature dishes and lamps have lost their tags and stamps that said “Made in Japan.” Two weeks after the [...]
Keeping the Aspidistra Soaring
Author’s note: I wrote this short piece in 1998 while my wife and I anxiously awaited a trip overseas that would result in the adoption of a bright-eyed toddler from Romania. Twelve years later, at peace as an often humbled father of a 13-year-old girl, I am not quite as disgruntled a writer but am [...]
Larger Than Me: Chapter 6 of ‘Speaking Truths’
Editor’s Note: What follows is an excerpt from Speaking Truths, a forthcoming novel based, in part, on actual events. The trauma-filled world of Landon Starker, created by author Dayna Hester, has been lauded as a psychological case study and a plea to raise awareness about child abduction. The book is inspired by the humane work of [...]
What the Water Knows
Surprised by a rogue cloud on a sunny day rain splotches my shirt and tosses huge drops on my hair. I turn my face up to catch sweet water in my mouth and think about the water bearers. For me there were five who came from water to teach me about poetry and spirit. A [...]
Bardo
Image Source: Shitro: 100 Deity Empowerment Sometimes, when the origin of ideas of the sublime and the beautiful are struck by lightning, I root into the hail of stones at the precise center of the world and sink into that dust. The trees maintain their erectness through the reciprocity of sight. Somewhere below me, the [...]
Conversation Slam
Editor’s Note: The following poem was retrieved from a homeless camp found underground in the corridor of the subway-surface green lines between Juniper and 40th street stops in February 2002 during a particularly harsh Pennsylvania winter. For security purposes, authorities never revealed the exact location of the camp but assured commuters that the camp’s residents were treated with dignity [...]
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