Vibrant face of depression
Another flick, a spark
once more awakened the past
Illustrating memories
are alive and always last
I recall your visage with
its veins, … Read more
Death
WHERE DID THAT GOD GO?
Image: Public domain, via CNN
That God asked us to make ourselves an ark of cypress
And interiorize it with grand rooms
This god had an aging fishing vessel ready … Read more
Crush Depth
Rich man’s ease devolves
to boredom, then to restless
annoyance, propelling high-priced,
high-risk adventures, in places
high or low, as chance may offer
and fate may choose—the “I-only”
ego can … Read more
Shattered like glass
For Azaan Khan
An innocent life shattered like glass:
handlebar dreams once pure and bright.
United we stand at the Berkley impasse
because of a drunken monster of gas.
Threats … Read more
When they kick in
your instincts may lead you
to the ocean’s floor or
the banks of a sandy beach,
whether you’re a fish
or human, or some species
in between. You may be … Read more
American Gothic
after Grant Wood
She sits in her Adirondack chair
on the front porch of a summer afternoon,
overlooking the cutting garden
in her Confederate flag t-shirt
knitting shotgun shells with … Read more
Quantum Physics Proves There is No Such Thing as Nothing
Instead, there is quantum foam
particles blinking into existence
only to blink back out
and as someone fallen
from the wagon of Catholicism
this discovered range of energies
feels like … Read more
Relentless Ian
He makes his way
over miles of ocean
gathering strength
looking like a threat.
Bold landfall in Cuba
slices off the power,
leaves families homeless
his eye aimed at the … Read more
Why Are You Here?
for Sayeh (Shadow)
Poet
from the forest-covered mountains
you celebrated the land that jailed you
When the radio broadcast your patriotic song
your jail guards and cellmates asked,
“Why are … Read more
The Last Text
We drove with the sunroof open
So the breeze could tangle our hair.
We rolled through stop signs,
We ran reds as the others did,
And we pressed send on … Read more
Under a Tree
High school sweethearts celebrating
56 years of marriage on a trip to DC.
to find their fate hiding under a tree
Traveling 803 miles from Janesville, WI
to explore the … Read more
The Coffin Artist
I know art can’t do shit,
and when budgets get cut
the arts are always on the block.
After the board meeting,
some teachers, students
and parents are left
to … Read more