On the Last Day of Summer Break I’m home alone, cleaning house, sweeping, dusting, mopping, emptying the trash, doing small errands that have been waiting a long time, like those framed drawings of France that needed hanging, and that boat painting; now they’re up. I put away all the piles of rags and brushes andContinue reading “#53: On the Last Day of Summer Break”
Category Archives: Poetry
#52: Stupid Human Facebook Tricks
(with apologies to all my friends guilty of the following) I think one has to earn the right to post pictures of one’s food. First, it must be good food, carefully prepared, photogenic food, artfully arranged, economically described. Otherwise, I don’t want to see anybody’s food. And I refuse to respond to posts that testContinue reading “#52: Stupid Human Facebook Tricks”
#28: Did You See The Moon?
Originally posted on michael jarmer:
Did You See The Moon? More luminous than your computer screen, shining in through the window of your study, full, full of fury, brightening the night sky like nobody’s business. Landing on the moon was not nearly as special as it was to look at the Earth from that vantage…
A Talk at the 30 Year High School Reunion
Note: I include this as a post on my blogsite mostly for those classmates of mine who would like to see it. Don’t know if it will make sense for other readers–parts of it will, perhaps, others not so much. For example, to get the opening gag, you’d have to know that I now teachContinue reading “A Talk at the 30 Year High School Reunion”
The Power of Retreat
The truth of the matter is I didn’t read a single word of Moby Dick. I remain today on the same page I was on a week ago. Thanks to the generosity and kindness of my wife and son, I have been on retreat for a week at St. Mary’s College in Moraga for theContinue reading “The Power of Retreat”
#51: Benefit Car Crash
I misread the advertisement for a benefit car wash as a benefit car crash, honestly enough, my eye glancing quickly over the headline, eliminating the ‘a’ in car and the ‘w’ in wash, the brain filling in some redundancy so that sense could be made–because no one would advertise a benefit crash without specifying theContinue reading “#51: Benefit Car Crash”
#50: On Trying Again To Read Moby Dick (Again)
I’m not reading again, but instead, trying again to read for the first time, the problem being, as I’ve said before, not one of starting but of finishing, which, I fear is, but hope is not, a general pattern in my life. Call me Ishmael. What a great first line. I read it twenty timesContinue reading “#50: On Trying Again To Read Moby Dick (Again)”
#49: On the Eve of Our 27th Wedding Anniversary
On the Eve of Our 27th Wedding Anniversary Earlier today we looked at each other and kind of shrugged. What do you want to do? I don’t know. How about you? Should we get a sitter and go out or should we do a special thing as a family? Let’s do the special thing asContinue reading “#49: On the Eve of Our 27th Wedding Anniversary”
#48: Learning to Ride
Learning to Ride He’s seven, reluctant to ride independently, most of his classmates far ahead on two wheels, which has not been a problem for him, so he says. No, I’m scared, he has said. No, I like the scooter better, he has said. I will never ride a bike, he has said. Never, heContinue reading “#48: Learning to Ride”
#47: Letting the Lawn Brown Out
Letting the Lawn Brown Out Otherwise, it would cost a small fortune for all the water it would take to keep it green, and who’s to say that somehow green is prettier than brown? It’s softer, yeah, sure, but I’m not a barefoot kind of guy so I’m always wearing shoes and I’d never knowContinue reading “#47: Letting the Lawn Brown Out”
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