Sometimes I wonder about what makes something the thing that it is.
How many of qualities of a thing can you remove before it becomes something else?
If you took the heat from a flame, could you still call it Fire? Would you want to?
My daughter’s friends attend a photography camp over winter break. She practically seethes with jealousy. Why do they get to do this and she can’t?
“Life’s not fair!”
I try to appeal to her common sense – reminding her that four half days playing with cameras is no substitution for … Read the rest
Love Letter (Clouds)
“… I didn’t fall in love. I fell through it:
Came out the other side moments later, hands full of matter, waking up from the dream of a bullet tearing through the middle of my body.
I no longer understand anything for longer than a long moment, or the time
Make a wish
It’s been a long time since I’ve had anything like a birthday party. I had one when I turned 41.
Let’s visit a local restaurant for dinner. Surprise, the back room was filled with friends and family. Waitresses brought out steaming trays of chicken wings and steak tips, pasta with … Read the rest
How long in a cold room will the tea stay hot?
What about reality interests you?
How long can you live?
Were you there when I said this might be real?
How much do you love?
Sixty percent?
Things that are gone?
Do you love what’s real?
Is real a … Read the rest
Meeting
He had been after me for years to come to his AA meeting. “You don’t have to say anything, just listen.” he assures. Thanks, but no thanks. To someone deeply committed to the program, this is a declaration of denial.
A true believer can spot a fellow addict … Read the rest
Asking for More
“I am not asking to suffer less.
I hope to be nearly crucified.
To live because I don’t want to.
That hope, that sweet agent—
My best work is its work.
The horse I ride into Hell is my best horse
And bears its name.
So, friends, … Read the rest
Good Bones
“Life is short, though I keep this from my children.
Life is short, and I’ve shortened mine
in a thousand delicious, ill-advised ways,
a thousand deliciously ill-advised ways
I’ll keep from my children. The world is at least
fifty percent terrible, and that’s a conservative
estimate, though I keep this … Read the rest
Whether
“Bundle up, it’s gonna be a cold one on Saturday!”
My parents obsess about the weather. They may call me for some other reason, but at some point one of them will volunteer the weather report. It’s not based on wisdom collected from decades of observing nature. No, this is … Read the rest
Gloucester 2017
In August I took my girls to the beach for almost a full week. I promise myself to be present, to be here and to be now, not to dwell on either the recent past or near future.
I love being at the beach and all its sensations implicit and … Read the rest