It’s October. The morning sky is gray. There was a crow squawking up a ruckus from a neighboring rooftop and a hummingbird nosed the flowers on the magnolia tree outside of my apartment window. I wrote a poem to start the month – it’s about naming things as a way of saying thank you, as…
Point of No Return? Feeling Overwhelmed
Every day, I read the news and find another reason (or several) to dislike this administration. Every day, I wonder if democracy can survive until the next election, and I fear that what will be left of our country after four years of this will be unrecognizable. How will things look from the ditch we…
Things Were Easier Then and I Was More Open
I have a lot of… regrets isn’t quite the word I’m looking for, but it’ll have to do… a lot of regrets about the fact that my last big relationship didn’t work out – which, jeez, was almost six years ago (or as one online calculator tells me 2,156 days, but who’s counting). It’s not…
Less than Conventional
I’m warming up to the idea that I live a safely unconventional life. I maintain a reasonable level of decorum and responsibility, I practice kindness, I almost always have my wits about me, but I’m learning to dance at the edges of… I’m not quite sure how to describe the spaces where I’m dancing. When…
Meditation on Autumn
In the middle of a reminiscence that felt a little like a conjuring, I wanted to get outside. I wanted to walk to that part of town where the manicured lawns and red brick buildings look like an east coast college campus. I wanted to be near trees and the earthy smells of late September….
I Am Right Here
Sometime back in 2019 or 2020, I became acquainted with a woman living in Nashville, TN. We met on a dating app and over the course of a week or two had a few very deep conversations. We both wrote and we were both interested in psychology/spirituality – though she was professionally trained in psychology….
Content, Yet Wanting More
Saturday It’s mid morning and I have little to show for it. Worse yet, I don’t have a plan for the day. Still tired from a late night (concert followed by the bar), I woke a little before 8am to the sound of the foghorn. After breakfast, I moved to the sofa where I’ve been…
Naming Things on a Tuesday Morning
The morning sun touches everything in my apartment. I can tell the angles are different than they were a month or two ago. The autumn light makes me wish I were a better student of the seasons. Intuitively, I know and feel and sense the changes, but I want something more precise than intuition. The…
In this Climate
Dearest Martha, It is fall here in San Francisco which, for the locals, means the warmest weather of the year and rooting for, but ultimately being disappointed by, their beloved sportsball team, the Giants. The patrons at the bar that I frequent were ecstatic when one of their players hit a grand slam to win…
Moving On, Moving Out
One of my friends has moved away. Or at least I think he did. I knew it would happen at some point, but I don’t think I knew how quickly he’d be moving. He’s gone back to Australia and isn’t sure for how long. It’ll be at least a few months. He has to get…
Some Thoughts on the “Performative Male”
On a warm, sunny Friday afternoon, I went to the bookstore and to Kerouac Alley to read and to check out what I thought would be a poetry meet-up. The post on Bluesky said, “we share poems (drafts, finished, someone else’s, all words are welcome) have a beer, then go to Golden Sardine to listen…
Another Morning Walk
Hoping to recreate a bit of yesterday morning’s bliss, I went for another morning walk. I didn’t leave quite as early as yesterday because I didn’t sleep well and woke up about an hour later. I had also spent more time reading and writing before the walk, which put me in a poetic, if not…