In Defense of Fearlessness
Arizona Rain I think about fear a lot. Many of us do, I suspect, with a world-wide pandemic barely in the rearview mirror; a likely Republican candidate who tried to overthrow the government; and a planet that rages against us more each year. Fear can inform and protect; it can also limit and hold […]
POLITICS AND POETRY
My poems sometimes take a political turn. My prose seldom does, and if so, it tends to be less blunt, more circumspect. Confined in real-world time and place, the plot of a story or novel will address what concerns me, particularly the plight of women, but always as part of the […]
Random Thoughts On Nearly Four Decades Of Writing
River in New Mexico In a few days, I will be sixty-five. Got my Medicare card a few weeks ago. There aren’t many other tokens of this milestone, except being called a senior citizen. Which I’m not. Citizen, yes. Senior, no. In any case, I look ahead calmly and look back wisely. At twenty-seven, […]
AN OPEN DOOR – Chapter One
chapter one On Friday afternoons the mood in the typing pool was a gathering storm. Heads bent tensely over keyboards. Machines clacked. High on the wall hung a big clock like a cold sun above the room. As the hour hand moved toward five the atmosphere became electric. Edith’s supervisor, Miss Grett, running the show […]
A Novelist & Poet
I wrote novels, then poetry, late in my career. Up to then, my focus was on short stories. I produced one after another for about nine years until finally, one found a home. It took another seven or eight years before I was regularly publishing them, and my first collection, All The Road That Lead […]
Poetry & Image
cottonwood tree reflected in water, Lavinia Studios 2021 POETRY & IMAGE Poetry is a visual expression, even when it’s about politics, or feminism, or how nasty people can be. In poems, words evoke both what we feel and see. This is important to me, I’d say even crucial. Since leaving the urban mess of Seattle […]
The One That Got Away
originally published in Product Magazine THE ONE THAT GOT AWAY Meeting Moira for coffee is like getting my teeth cleaned. I know it’s going to hurt, I think of reasons not to go, then go anyway. For the dentist, there’s an appointment, and it looms on my calendar. Moira doesn’t make appointments. She texts and […]
Caleb’s Girl
originally published in Product Magazine CALEB’S GIRL Caleb says she’s so amazing, more like a goddess than a girl. He hasn’t been seeing her long and none of us have met her yet, so we accuse him of making her up. He says she’s as real as anyone, only she smells like […]
blue obsidian
originally published in Full House Literary Magazine blue obsidian things of beauty please the eye paperweights & polished blocks of lapis & malachite a small crystal vase with silk roses—pink my favorite, though i don’t care for fake flowers this place isn’t for me he puts a silver giraffe in […]
People Ruin Everything
originally published in New Pop Lit The summer people choked the road, filled up the taverns, trashed the beachfront, and parked everywhere and anywhere, even in places they shouldn’t. Moss’s father was on the city council and had tried, unsuccessfully, to find funding to build a lot so driveways wouldn’t get blocked. The idea of […]