Poem The Rubble of Qana

The Rubble of Qana

They told them to leave
No feast here. Home
Is home even for the displaced.
Numbers of families gathered
In a basement, thankful
To touch and see loved ones.
A belief that this blessing
Of recognition
Would keep them safe.

Of the new day
Darkest hour
A bunker buster bomb
Descended on this concrete
Structure; it was swift carnage.
Plumes of dust, rebar
Bent so awkwardly
A prison formed for those
Trying to recover remains. Inside
A silence; children, mothers,
Found dead as they slept.
No miracle, riddled
Bodies never cry- too porous.

Walker Percy Quote

Walker Percy said, "We love those who know the worst of us and don't turn their faces away."

Quote Mary Gaitskill

"My experience of life as essentially unhappy and uncontrollable taught me to examine the way people, including myself, create survival systems ... for themselves in unorthodox and sometimes apparently self-defeating ways. These inner worlds, although often unworkable and unattractive in social terms, can have a unique beauty and courage." – Mary Gaitskill

Poem Shadow Time

Shadow Time


I know where not
Crow resides. I search
from lamplight
to Japanese maple.
This must be shadow
time, when crow
waltzes with death.

Wrestling Man Poem

Wrestling Man
For Steve, one of many adventures together.

We met this man
Steve and I- big
White beard, bulbous nose
As we were getting off the trolley
On fifteenth.
He approached us
A frightful sight.
“You boys wrestle,” “no”
We said shyly.
“Twins your size gotta wrestle.”
His face obscured by matted beard
Made me wonder: what’s he hiding?
Had he tussled with Haystack Calhoun
Or Two Ton Tony Galenta, maybe
It was one too many pile drivers
Into the canvas.
“An opportunity to manage my brother
And I to fame”, I think he said.
I know Steve wanted to run,
But I was too frightened to budge.
The next thing we were both
In headlocks and squeezed in a way
That said: “Show me how strong you
Really are?” We felt the vice and broke free.
Running duffle bags in tow, not speaking
About a wrestling career that would never happen.

Robert Coover Quote

Robert Coover said, "The narrative impulse is always with us; we couldn't imagine ourselves through a day without it. ... We need myths to get by. We need story; otherwise the tremendous randomness of experience overwhelms us. Story is what penetrates."

Tennessee Williams said:

Tennessee Williams said, "I have found it easier to identify with the characters who verge upon hysteria, who were frightened of life, who were desperate to reach out to another person. But these seemingly fragile people are the strong people really."

FOUR THOUSAND FEET

FOUR THOUSAND FEET

I remember the time
when my walkie talkie
picked up different voices.
Antennaed black boxes
could unexpectedly bring down
god’s from the sky.
The language was numbers
and permission in masculine static.
If I were lucky
a jet or prop plane
would roar overhead
demystifying the voices.
If not, I’d go to dad
who could still tolerate
reading over television,
steam instead of diesl,
yet he had no answers for such a question.
Walkie talkies were not for his time
They demanded more thinking
than faith for this railroad man
from a generation built on rails.