Hurt and Gladness

Today, I rode through an autumn snow flurry of falling leaves on my way to work.  A single leaf separated from the flock and slapped me sharply across the lips.  I can still feel the place where it touched me. Yesterday, I hurt my shoulder while tumbling on the grass.  The insistent throbbing has diminished, [...]

Letter to my dad, but not my father figure.

Dear Dad, I am awake and heading into town. You were right about writing early. Beautiful thoughts are filling my head this morning, giving me sway to write (now I am not so sure they are beautiful, but it feels good to have them in my head). It would be nice to see you, even [...]

25 Random Things About Me

You have been tagged in this note.  Now you are obligated by the law of chain letters to respond. I was going to tell you about this guy in Peoria who didn’t pass this on, but I won’t tell you about his tragic misfortune. Here are the Rules:  Once you’ve been tagged, you are supposed [...]

Greyhound

I rode a shuttle bus last night up on campus and after everyone boarded and the driver turned off the bright overhead lights leaving a series of moody pools of warm reading light, I was flooded with longing. Cross-country bus trips of my youth.  Stopping for minutes at a time in little towns whose name [...]

Saint Louis

I was walking St. Louis alone late one night. All the bars had closed and even the last hearty hopefuls had found their way to the door. There was no one on the street, but there were lights in many windows. The blue flicker of television leaked out from behind a few curtains. An icy [...]

It’s 1am and I’m Running Away

The high-tension wires are making a dangly-jangly rhythm like the sound of a digeridoo. And I’m thinking about the barking dogs in the distance. I’m thinking about the fish dancing for fish reasons to fish rhythms. I’m thinking about the frogs across the lake with their frog love songs. I’m thinking about what you said [...]

So When I Say I Like You

I don’t need kind words, Kind thoughts, Good intentions. I don’t need safe and sane, Right job, Right life. I was raised short on inspiration. I was raised where books on shelves, Where there were books, Were Condensed Books Like Condensed soup Down to nothing at all. Art was Tuesday’s at one. Music was radio. [...]

Even the birds are crying

There is a fire burning in the mountains. The smoke covers the sun and the light looks like the end of the world. Even the birds are crying… the plaintive sound of wild turkeys the backdrop of our final farewell. I walked through the forest alone and disoriented. As always, I could not just let [...]

From Where I Stand

The last time we see someone.  The last time I saw you.  You never know it at the time, of course.  And we look back and say, Hmm, was that the last time I saw him?  The last time I touched him? Was the last time on my road trip?  Almost certainly.  But that doesn’t [...]

Meteor

She walks down the beach, hips swaying in the push of the soft sand. A willowy fireball. Which I just looked up, a brilliant meteor that may trail bright sparks.

Two pair of dreams

Two nights of unusual, thematic dreams. Each night, a different theme. Night before last, I dreamt two police interactions. In the first which I don’t remember well, I had a confrontation with a rent-a-cop who was trying to control me. I wouldn’t be controlled. In the second which I remember well, a traffic stop on [...]

a shimmering sheet of blue

A crazy roadtrip across two states to see a friend. The traveler, the dreamer, the exotic circus lady. Talk about her need for rootedness and my need to uproot some of mine. Coming from opposite directions, maybe we can meet in the middle. Beyond, a defile between the mountains descended rapidly about two thousand feet; [...]