I wish I could remember every moment of growing up. The laughter. The tears. One last time. I want to see the glow of my wife’s face in the setting sun. One last time. I crave to feel the warmth of her body curled against mine. One last time. I wish I could go back in time and watch my daughter grow into such a beautiful person. One last time. I want to relive holding her in my arms at the hospital to taking her in my arm...

Imagine, If you can. A place where you can hide. Safety in anonymity, Rather than, Reveal yourself where you reside. Peace, Sought yet rarely found. Comes in the smallest doses. Like cat’s feet in grass, It comes with nary a sound. Just a click of the door as it closes. Dream, Be it night or day. Details are ever so rare. Sound asleep or wide awake, Failure will always find a way, To turn every dream into a nightmare.

Edward sat at the head of the table gazing at the Christmas feast before him. A succulent roast turkey with cornbread stuffing. A basin of mashed potatoes just to the left of his grandmother’s antique tureen of gravy. Fruits and vegetables spread gloriously around the table. It was another wonderful year. The Christmas tree in the corner with a deluge of brightly wrapped packages set a joyful atmosphere, alongside the fir...

Epilogue to “Cedar Boxes” Once again, for the last time, we await the return of Cedar Box #10. Just a simple rectangular wooden box full of ashes and an interlocking lid with a brass plate on top bearing a name. "Gimley." I guess it is a headstone of sorts. To outsiders, it is just a name given to whatever pet is inside. To us, it means eight years of love and affection between species. It means he carried the banner for...

I don’t know when I lost her. She held on as long as she could. I was aloof. Careless. I loved her. I just never showed her how much. Now I can’t. She has flown away forever. I saw caterpillars. She saw butterflies.

I once bought a bag of chips A big ol’ bag all bright and yellow I opened the bag with a pair of snips So little inside I was one unhappy fellow.   I saw a pie I really wanted A nice big box to hold it all I ripped it open completely undaunted And found a pie so pathetically small.   I ordered a tool from an online shop It took forever to come in the mail What I got made my jaw drop Someone needs to go to jail.   I needed...

I don’t see colors anymore. Everything is black or grey. I don’t hear music or laughter as before. There is no difference between night or day.   The air I breathe Seems heavy and thick. And now I believe It was all just a trick.   They held the carrot just out of reach. Always running and never gaining. Sculptures washed away in the sandy beach. Endless winters constantly raining.   There was a time When kites flew high....

Two dogs. A rabbit. Four cats. Two parakeets. Nine cedar boxes filled with the life’s ashes of our fur and feathered family for over the last 40+ years. We are down to just one now. Gimley the cat came to us some seven years ago. He was a feral cat who was surprisingly human-friendly. We fed and watered him but it was obvious he was the neighborhood cat that knew which families would give him the most attention. He was we...

Making wine from oysters A mop bucket stands unused While muffins burn in the oven Swingsets rust in the rain.   Yet carpet covers hardwood As the moon serenades toads Beyond the furthest galaxy Three-eyed gargoyles play checkers.   A Dodge is missing a wheel Whilst hummingbirds seek pollen and poo The wind knocks over a For Sale sign Sirens howl as dogs reply.   My heart is rendered useless Shoes too tight and squeak Chu...

Cal Zone knew he was in trouble. His partner, Justin Case had been taken hostage by the biggest crime boss in the Midwest. Carmine (Itchy) Ricketts controlled all of the corruption in Trippen Falls, South Dakota. Cal sat in his favored 4-door, Canary yellow 1959 Chevy Impala, given to him by his father the day the FBI arrested and took him away for bigamy. Justin was not only his partner in End Zone Bail Bonds & Keychain...

If you could see As far as you could see Would it look any different? Possibly.   If you could run As far as you could run Would you finally be there? Would you be done?   If you could hear Everything you wanted to hear Has it all been said? Not so, I fear.   If you could touch All you wanted to touch Would you be satisfied? Not so much.   If you could smell All there is to smell Would you lose the scent? It’s hard to tel...

I have been here before Many times more A different face In a different place.   As each vessel dies Amidst loved one’s cries The spirit rises I return in guises.   Plato, Nero, Rembrandt and Bach Each return gives new paths to walk Embodied within A new life and new skin.   Creating a future from the past Lessons learned from knowledge amassed Life begets life endlessly driven Vessels usurped to what they’ve been given....

The worst word in golf. I know, it’s part of the etiquette of the game, but it’s the part we all hate to shout or hear. It’s one of those things in the arsenal of golf, like mulligans and do-overs and foot wedges. Once the dreaded “Fore!” has been uttered, golfers all over the course scramble for trees or wrap their arms around their heads and do the “ants-in-the-pants-dance” like they are trying to escape dive-bombing se...

I remember attic fans in the summer and radiators in the winter and if you backed into it trying to get warm, you burnt your ass. I remember linoleum floors. Stovetop percolators. Gas stoves you had to light with wooden matches. I remember glass bottles of milk with cardboard stoppers on the porch. Wall phones with 15-foot cords hanging in the kitchen. Screen doors with long springs to close them. Loudly. I remember rugs,...

I am imperfect. Made of torn flesh and broken bones. Dreams crushed like stone to gravel and hope wasted on the likes of me.   Once an Alpha dog now relegated to solitaire howling. The younger man in the mirror looks back at the older man he now is and remembers the halcyon days of youth.   Aching muscles lift a decrepit body to bear armor one more day. For each day risen is a victory in itself.   Alas, if only there were...