A is for autumn which comes every year.

B is for bountiful harvest.

C is for changing weather whenever it feels like.

D is for too damn rainy!

E is for everything going to sleep.

F is for frogs hibernating in the mud.

G is for good tidings of great joy.

H is for holidays that everyone celebrates.

I is for instant regret when you look at your bank statement.

J is for just another year pas...

The treats are in my reach.

Their smell entices my tastebuds.

But how can this be?!

For they are kept sealed

in this crackly plastic bag.

I see the meals

flitting in the front lawn.

But when I pounce

I seem to bounce

if an invisible barrier.

The illusive red dot,

it taunts my waking and sleeping life.

For when I attack,

it always comes back

and my hunt ends unfulfilled.

The fish ...

Open skies beckon something broader

than our minuscule minds may comprehend.

During the day we see Mr. Blue Sky.

Or maybe he’s being conservative

and covered in blankets of clouds.

The sunlight shines some ninety-one million

miles from the location of land we live,

and sends a spectrum of waves

wandering through a vacuum.

And as the waves enter the atmosphere,

they barm apart against...

War is never a good thing, especially when it reaches home. I was only a young man when I received my government summons to fight for the country I didn’t choose to be a part of. The taxes were too demanding, the governing parties were so deeply influenced by corruption you couldn’t trust anyone, and the violence was at an intolerably high level. No one could walk across the street without somethi...

…your bed after a long and exhausting shift.

…a purring cat as you give it scritches.

…birdsong greeting the sunrise.

…the babble of a brook as it travels underfoot.

…the cascading “shka shka” of Legos from under wrapping paper.

…the sound of the internet, you know the one, that takes you back to simpler times.

…the wave of warmth and relaxation spreading across your body when you fina...

In memory of D.C. 2003-2022

We met when we were young.

Church kids counting the hours

down to the last minute

Sunday school lasted,

when parents would come to collect

their children from the bullpen

that was nursery.

Then, constant Sunday Wednesday meetings

turned to Sunday Monday Wednesday

since we started gymnastics.

Jumping, leaping, flapping limbs

to the dissatisfaction

of the di...

As I heard the school bus pulling away from the driveway, Gregory burst through the door with much more energy than usual for an October afternoon.

“Mommy mommy mommy!” He called with excited urgency. “Look what teacher gave me! Look what teacher gave me!”

“Yes, Greg. Give me a sec,” I shook my hands to get as much dish water off as I could before using the towel. “Now, who gave this to you?”

“...

When I was in the wrong

for talking to a girl

or using foul words,

my father would put me to work

chopping the wood of the ground.

To uproot the roots of the crab apple,

creating crabby moods

from moves made of innocent nature

but not according to the rules of nurture

and the holy rules of the sovereign.

Why is the snooping

of those who are older

not scolded likewise

to the actions ...

“Forgive me, father, for I did the sin”

is a sentence I will never say.

For I do not need a man to begin

the process of forgiveness in my day.

Dear Heavenly Father, I have done wrong.

Both conscious and subconscious minds are black

with sin, deceit, despair. Temptations strong

inside the forefront of my mind. Hijacked

into thinking that I am not worthy

of all the love that You have given me...

Maybe I shouldn’t.

My last one nearly killed me.

Loneliness kills too.

Indescribably painful.

Pain’s the only way to grow....