Ich habe viele Brüder in Sutanen im Süden, wo in Klöstern Lorbeer steht. -Rainer Maria Rilke I see a stand of tall trees here, limbs all reaching up until their leaflessness entwines, a pattern on an argyle sweater. These are not my sisters, the scrub pines and pin oaks of South Jersey, […]
I Have Many Sisters Read More »
Smoke Trees and Mountain Ash Because I never learned the names of flowering trees, they all seem ornamental, with tiny hard fruit that softens with the frost. Then the birds can eat. Seeds scatter, form new plants bred to please the eye, not for juice or sweetness. If a vine’s not pruned it begins to
Smoke Trees and Mountain Ash Read More »
A Brief History of My Life as a Coyote I’m not cóyotl, the Aztec trickster, the death decliner who succeeds through failure and holds the way open between the worlds. I come from that original deceiver, Prometheus the clever, who got caught. He paid with pain and regeneration. Disposing of the dead is a
A Brief History of My Life as a Coyote Read More »
Each Image Makes Its Way The wall between us is semi-permeable, merely a membrane. It would be translucent if there were light here.
Each Image Makes Its Way Read More »
Supplicant Matins The campanile across town sounds the canonical hours. My sleepless all-night vigil ends when dawn begins to break through the hospital window. My fast is broken when the tray of cold oatmeal arrives on my bedside table. I remove the plastic dome. Nothing ends the pain.
Supplicant: Pay Attention Read More »
Specific Gravity Once my heart was ballast in my chest, so sinkingly heavy I couldn’t stand. I slept for as many hours as there were memories. I couldn’t bear to look at myself, at my bloated face, my dull eyes. As time went on, I learned to throw everything, even my marrow, overboard. Now,
The Seagull Gray was a gift (and the gulls’ laughter). A world of water was the westward road. Wind and waves wandered ashore to make a murderous mess of the day.
The Seagull & Irreversible Read More »
The Friday before the July 4th weekend, I bought some Tokay at the State Store. The wine is named for the region of Hungary where the grapes are grown.
