I was riding a blind horse down the center of town Horns honked Women screamed Men heehawed mouths wide open– all I could see is calamity; the horse saw nothing, followed the guidance of my gentle nudge of the reins on his neck showing him his way home after cashingContinue Reading

Under a canopy of blue sky A light breeze lifts the new leaves on summer trees. Flocks of blackbirds season the backyard Like pepper cloves sprinkled randomly on a green earth.   A flurry, a swirl charging the mix to flight. and silence falls as if they were never there.Continue Reading

Sun contemplates the language of landscape at twilight as a thread of light encircles the horizon.   The calm orb slides down its nightly path pulls the silken imaginary curtain                                         Continue Reading

We wake thinking about leaving. These trips are always too short. Today we have to pack up. Somehow, all the equipment that makes it possible to survive up here—tents, sleeping bags, propane burners, assorted rope and tarps and boots—have to fit back into the tiny, rented car so that weContinue Reading

Sabi wandered through the long grasses, skirting around enormous trees that gave plenty of shade and even better cover from predators. Her mother had taught her long ago not to meander out in the open or you may find yourself soaring above the clouds on the way to someone’s dinnerContinue Reading

there is no greater image of  desperation  than the dog that runs back for  the bone  for the twentieth time  on a lonely afternoon.  it returns home to its master  lays down at his feet  sets down the emblem of his  dedication  and the master laughs,  accepts his gift half-heartedlyContinue Reading

You say it’s just a phony menace, these alligators on the banks of the backyard stream, slowly warming their somber blood in late afternoon sunshine We are as safe as if they were butterflies or deer or even children splashing in that slow curdle of water. There is enough fishContinue Reading

I cannot stand your velvet cloak that holds the dark in. Unprepared, I stayed   with you until the wind spoke of mothers and I remembered my own smell. Every day I checked the solidness   of skin, the speed of blood, the shape of eyes against the rain. IContinue Reading

In hindsight, this was probably not the best place for a teachable moment about death with my eleven-year-old. The whole thing had been Abby’s idea in the first place. “I can’t let her go,” she had said. “Please dad.” Osiris was our thirteen-year-old ragdoll cat my wife Olivia adopted rightContinue Reading

The Temp, something I did not ask for, is here. Like most humans, It’s tall and lumbering, and oh Bast, It’s speaking in kitten-talk already. One of my roommates, a young kitten my human roommates call “Lucy” (whom I have yet to give my blessing to), is already performing forContinue Reading