A Woman at War

Sometimes war is a heavily armed soldier and a woman in a winter coat standing six feet apart. The soldier has an AK-74 and the woman has her voice. And a raging imagination. She asks questions he can’t answer, He gives answers that are not his. On one thing...

Do I Dare

On the occasion of the Russian military waging war on Ukraine Is it moral to delight in a rose when war has broken out 6,000 miles away, to call attention to a bird song when buildings collapse under screaming silver, when a baby carriage is pushed six miles to a...

War Living/War Dead

On the occasion of the invasion of Ukraine by the Russian army In war, the living are convinced of the necessity of hostilities. They live against opposition, each side the enemy of the other. They must win at all costs. Do the war dead feel the same way? In war, the...

What I Know

Studying and studying, so much to learn I learn and also learn there is so much I’ll never know. Then there are the things I know I wish I did not know but need to know. These are dark facts. These are mainly historical,...

Mumble/Muffle/Muzzle

the word world sinks over come by what has taken over a bland blanching sludge buzz   hum   drone white disquietude like cotton, like candy a saccharine brainful a mouthful of dittos

The Chase

over and over on the beach, a little girl chases a sea gull rushing feet flapping wings always the sea bird wins, wins by not losing. the girl wins by losing.

I Am Free

My poems are not a call for freedom. I am free. King or Queen, not a monarch but a mattress. I am free. Coke or Pepsi. I am free. Foreign or domestic. I am free. Honda or Hyundai. I am free. Man or woman, Boy or girl. I am free. Gay or straight. Black or white....

Tell Me

What happened? What occurred? What took place? What name is needed? A word. A word to hold in your mind’s eye, A word to tell another. To transmit. To transport. One word extracted from many. The right word. Tell me. Then I will know what you know. A...

In Praise of the Amphibious Mind

Humans are of two minds. Amphibious. We live in two worlds at once. One mind imagines a rocket. One mind imagines a god. One mind builds the rocket, titanium. aluminum, copper. fuel. One mind names the rocket. Saturn. Apollo. Atlas. Thor.  Which mind could we be human...

Love

This is a truth about you, You listen. I have nothing to say. But you listen. Wind from my mouth batters the shore of your being. Still you listen and listen. You hear and I am heard. I am present in your hearing. You listen. I...