A friend’s wife died recently. Colon cancer. I had no idea. We hadn’t talked in years. I assumed he was just one of those people who falls in love and forgets the world. I can’t begrudge someone their happiness.

Her memorial service is a study in upper-middle class values and … Read the rest

Sometimes we see something not for what it is, but by its absence.

A friend has disappeared. Phone calls, texts, even the occasional request to visit drops off. And at first you think nothing of it. But days go by. And then more days.

Busy, I guess. A call goes … Read the rest

Warm summer sun,
    Shine kindly here,
Warm southern wind,
    Blow softly here.
Green sod above,
    Lie light, lie light.
Good night, dear heart,
    Good night, good night.… Read the rest

The trees are coming into leaf / Like something almost being said;… Read the rest

“Each minute bursts in the burning room,   
The great globe reels in the solar fire,   
Spinning the trivial and unique away.
(How all things flash! How all things flare!)   
What am I now that I was then?   
May memory restore again and again   
The smallest color of the smallest day:   … Read the rest

It’s January and I get a text. It’s from Brad. He says he’s coming in from California for a few days and wants to hang. Excellent! I tell him I’ll spread the word. I’m sure I can wrangle some of friends to make it a bigger gathering. “Not necessary. I’m … Read the rest

It has been so wet stones glaze in moss;
everything blooms coldly.

I expect you. I thought one night it was you
at the base of the drive, you at the foot of the stairs,

you in a shiver of light, but each time
leaves in wind revealed themselves,

the … Read the rest

“I want a dog!”

And not just any dog, my daughter wants (No! Needs!) a small fluffy dog she could love and who would love her back. “I promise I’ll walk it three times a day.” Promises.

How about a cat?

“Two cats?”

One cat. One is enough … … Read the rest

This December I’ve spent time buying gifts, reading, socializing, exploring and searching for a lawyer.

Last December I did much the same. But last year I had what was later diagnosed as pneumonia. A doctor, not my doctor he was too busy with other patients, took my temperature and stuck … Read the rest

I gaze out the window. Tiny flakes of snow slowly drift down coating the cars in the parking lot.  It’s March, days before a new season begins.

OK, time to go. Kiss your wife. 

I do as I’m told and I lean in and kiss her forhead like I would … Read the rest