Fraiku: Gratitude Feels like a bear hug warmth of a fellow human you're not alone (A further expression of gratitude: my thanks to Barbara Leonhard, editor at MasticadoresUSA for publishing one of my dog poems, I dreamt I was walking my dogs under the light of the moons.

Middle Child Big brother is impatient for little sister's decorations to come down like a sugar high. He doesn't like her goth aesthetic of black and orange. He'd rather be of good cheer, all bright and flashy. And here I sit between them at the kid's table, avoiding politics to keep the peace.…

The Leaves of Late Autumn The crescent moon smiles in the twilight as the rain, fresh fallen from the trees, taps out exotic rhythms on our path. Your eyes crinkle when you look at me and I know my luck will run out someday. But until then I will feast on the vision of your face as we walk through…

Fraiku: Pilot Whales Dance on the slip of an abyss Inspiration below — Willing to fall Just like a poet (Yesterday I attended a talk at the Science Café entitled, How Pilot Whales Make Dinner Plans. During the lecture four Living Poets were writing and at the end we shared our ink-wet poems with…

Fraiku: Just like America The soup is boiling over burnt to the bottom of the pot leaping into the fire

First Frost I fluff up my nest and my graying fur, ignore my doctors put on a few pounds, fill the freezer with Impossible burgers and microwave burritos. Night freezes the birdbath, so I lock my doors, secure the shutters but leave one candle burning in a window so solitary travelers know the…

Fraiku: Date Night Secluded booth Sharing a bottle of wine Dessert to go

The Grave of James Dickey All cemeteries should have Spanish Moss draped from their trees. This is what I learned while wandering through All Saints Church Cemetery in Pawleys Island, South Carolina. I was searching for the grave of James Dickey, Poet Laureate of the United States. Before…

Life in the Confederacy The stainless steel is cold in my hand, except for the place touched by my lips where I blew as hard as I could and barely heard a whine. Rabid dogs came running, tails wagging, mouths foaming, ready to vote for anyone promising to hurt folks with a darker skin. Some of my…

Día de los Muertos We lay an offering on the alter.For great-grandfather Whilum,a trowel encrusted with the earth.For great-grandma Emma,a bowl of butterscotch candy.For grandma Mary,a feed-sack apron.For grandpa Boppi,a dancing harmonica.For my father Peter,another flashlight magnetic and…

Fraiku: Between Worlds In the graveyard, mist rises under the moonlight as the veil draws thin.

Hansel She slinks over to me sitting at the bar, touches my arm, twirls her red hair, asks about my job and family. Tells me she loves to bake. Her oven is always hot. Calls me cute and with a wink says she just wants to eat me up. Says I should come for dinner, which I do. Her cottage deep in the…

Canis Redivivus! at MasticadoresUsa I am pleased to announce that my old poem Canis Redivisus! is up on MasticadoresUsa as part of their pet poetry series. Don't worry, only the title is in Latin. Here's the first stanza: My dog sleeps like a beach towel drying in the sun after a vibrant afternoon…

Trick or Treat I've done my own research, the evidence is overwhelming. It need not be cataloged here. Donald Trump is just a character played by a comedian in a fat-suit. The ludicrous comb-over and orange makeup should have been enough for us to realize this, but his performance enraged and…

They’ll Say They Didn’t Know They Were Nominated I am proud, thrilled and most of all honored to announce that my poem, They'll Say They Didn't Know, was nominated for a Pushcart Prize by the Chaos Section Poetry Project. The initial version of They'll Say They Didn't Know was written to one of…

Fraiku: Ripped from the Headlines Trump wrecks White House. No need for metaphor. Life becomes parody. (East Wing of White House reduced to rubble as part of Trump’s ballroom construction)

Conversations with My Father, Nevermore Don't worry, my dad's still alive. I merely chose that provocative title because two of my poems were published today. Conversations with My Father has been posted at the wonderful Lothlorien Poetry Journal. Thank you, Strider! Here's the first stanza: These…

Trying to devise a metaphor as unique as you You are the onion ring in my basket of fries. A gold finch among sparrows. You are Moët et Chandon in a case of Thunderbird. The supernova blazing in a night sky of mere twinkling stars.

Fraiku: No Kings Gather. Assemble. Not so you don't feel alone. So no one else does. Tomorrow, Saturday October 18th: Find an event near you. You are not the only one who sees the danger, the insanity, the corruption of the Republican regime.

Harvest Halloween All the husky, rusty tossels of the corn have been rustled into the barn. Harvest done, we dress up and load up into a wood-paneled station wagon bound for town. Witches, princesses, plenty of ghosts, a Frankenstein's Monster and one girl stuffed like a pillow into three balls of…

Fraiku: Too Soon Too Soon As a boy I ran Impatient to begin life Now I shuffle slow Title stolen from Lawrence Ferlinghetti's A Coney Island of the Mind, 20.

In Medusa’s Kitchen I am pleased to announce that yesterday seven of my old poems visited Medusa's Kitchen. If you're new to my work, here's a good place to check out these previously published pieces from the past decade, including one that got nominated for a Pushcart Prize. Consider this my…

After the Homecoming Dance In the backseat of my parents' car we sit and don't talk about the only thing on our mind. Like my girlfriend, the harvest moon rises above soon to be naked trees yet is still covered by thin clouds like a veil. Then as the porcelain light finally shines through the…

Fraiku: Sniffles Thought it was a runny nose then a crimson shock of blood smeared my sleeve

How I Learned to Write Poetry at The Lake I'm very proud to announce that a new poem of mine has just been published at The Lake. My thanks to John Murphy for accepting my work. How I Learned to Write Poetry starts like this: Little boy in a yellow rain coatand galoshes squatting in the…

Pumpkin Pickins I Through the weeds the pumpkins pop like a stoplight cautioning us because Grandma hasn't given the green light to go into the garden II Musty leaves dry at the bottom of the pile where their fellows rise like the harvest moon into the smoke dancing with the swirling wind like…

Fraiku for the Deer who steals seeds from birds and squirrels Calm as an autumn lake while I yell my fool head off from a window

The Nature of Nurture at Whispers and Echoes I'm proud to announce that my poem The Nature of Nurture has been published over at Whispers and Echoes. Thanks, Sammi! The Nature of Nurture is a Kwansaba, first written over ten years ago. I'd never heard of this form before but wanted to give it a…

Autumnal Equinox 2025 Egg balanced on railroad tracks white as a late summer cloud delicate as democracy An iron train rumbles in like a storm soon to obliterate the inner sun rusted leaves swirling litter behind A lumpy swamp-colored walnut crashes to the ground just inches ahead of me as if…

Fraiku: Twilight in the ER After a long sweet summer afternoon the blood red sun falls hard on the horizon but then the stars come out

Leave me the night at Whispers and Echoes I'm proud to announce that one of my old previously unpublished poems has been posted to Whispers and Echoes. Thank you, Sammi! The first version of Leave me the night was written as part of my 2012 April Poem-a-Day Challenge, before I'd even established…

I’ll Never Finish My Autobiography at MasticadoresUSA I am pleased to announce that one of my newer poems, I'll Never Finish My Autobiography has just been posted at MasticadoresUSA. Thank you, Barbara! It starts: Keep your notebook and penat hand just in case you fall. Remember that commercial…

Fraiku: Donate Every eight weeks I conjure blood from wine one pint at a time Tomorrow morning, I'll be making my bimonthly donation at the American Red Cross. If you've received a transfusion of A+ blood and felt a little tipsy afterwards, blame me.

Table for One, Please Glass of red wine in one hand and a purple pen in the other. If I had antennae, they'd be quivering. The booth to my right wraps around two men, complaining about the wives they fear to lose. The booth to my left guards female travelers with inscrutable accents planning…

Fraiku: The Simpsons Savor your wine, Marge, thirty-six cromulent years has been long enough Inspired by Sammi's Weekend Writing Prompt, though I just wrote a haiku instead of a 45 word poem, and The Simpsons' season 8 episode "You Only Move Twice".

Just Like Writing Poetry Spent all morning washing the clothes, birds on the wing in the bright blue, I smiled back at the sun in his sky. But as soon as I hang the wash on the line the gulls and clouds fly in from the shore. Seems like whenever I get close to being done the rain revises. (A…

Fraiku: Waxing Crescent You are the crescent moon smiling in my twilight sky Written for this week's Living Poetry Prompt. Check out all the links to the poems written for this one. I've been offering these for eight years or so and never read such high quality poetry written for one of my prompts.

If you want to get on my good side Don't bring me chocolate milky smooth and rich to coat my tongue Don't bring me ice cream with a frosty spoon in a strawberry sundae Don't bring me a pie whose crust crumbles over blueberried fingers Bring me potato chips salt and vinegar laced with caramel…

Fraiku: Femme Fatale Me an asthmatic teetotaller Then I met you Now I love the taste of ashtrays (Image stolen from Sogni e poesie di una donna qualunque.)

Hope I’m only an Imagist I am delighted to report that two of my poems have been published today. Hope posted to the revived Whispers and Echoes. Thanks, Sammi! I adapted the first line, A little bird slammed into my window, mistaking it for the sky, as a Fraiku earlier this year. And I'm only an…

Fraiku: Vacation’s End Two weeks of real life then back to the job retirement just a dream

Sycophancy a Plus Consider this official notice that I'm firing the head WordPress statistician for BLATANTLY under reporting my views last month just because he doesn't understand my AWESOME poetry. If you'd like to lead that department, apply in the comments below. Tell me how you'd make sure I…

Where’s the Remote? Guess I fell asleep on the couch and sleptwalked my way back to bed without recording any memories. Knifing my hands between cushions I find crumpled paper napkins, nacho cheese Doritos and a penny, which makes me wonder how Lincoln would handle our situation, not that he ever…

Please Touch the Art Last week I visited the Charles H. Taylor Visual Arts Center in Hampton, Virginia, to see the Please Touch the Art exhibit by Sally Barker. It wasn't the first time I'd seen these works since the artist is my mother. Around the turn of the century, my mom had the brilliant…

Fraiku: Sturgeon Moon Rise yellow lantern light this sultry August night make sundials work late

What I Learned about Politics on the Ferry to Cape May We're past the breakers. The sea swells and rolls like my innocent belly during this grey crossing. I enter the ferry lounge, hoping for a quiet place to sit and shut out the wavering world. But my best efforts to calm myself do nothing to the…

The Day Is Done I squint because my pupils are dark as ripe walnuts on this midnight mission to the kitchen as the harsh light of the fridge bulb floods the tile floor. Rummage past the carrots, apples and leftover Chinese which I save for the cold light of day. I open the freezer looking for the…

Fraiku: Vacation The best part is Friday afternoon logging off (for this week's Living Poetry Prompt)

Fraiku: Hope I've just been waiting for life to get dark enough that the stars come out

Summer Thunder The fireflies are hiding as the storm raves in. Momma gathers us into the house like church mice and hushes us down so God can do His work. No TV. No Radio. No chattering while the rain pelts loud on the old tin roof. And I peep through drawn shades to glimpse the lightning. (A…