One of the men leaned over and spit long and dark next to where the dog lay curled. He said something about the senora, and the other men laughed.

I am my beloved’s Advil and she is my Aleve

They wanted to go fresh water fishing, so I had to buy worms. None there in the saltwater town. Drove about 10 miles over the long bridge to cross the bay. I'd been there before. Walked in and a crusty, little skinny man got up from his chair. He: Watcha need? Me: Fresh…

Thanks to prepositions I can be on drugs, get into music, sway under the influence and rock around the clock. I can jump up and down, crawl into a sleeping bag, sleep under the stars, wander into dreams, and wake up feeling down. I can drink from a bottle, sit…

I am asking for something as simple as water. In an oak tree, weeping, a child climbed too high. Tears that the barkstain will never wash clear. O love. We ask far too much when we fall. In a momentary lapsus, the words…

If opposites attract, that might explain it, Doreen and I. Conjugally blissed through thick and thin. Forty some odd years. Since June of sixty five.

respect your parents. or not. stay put. or not. finish school. or not. get married. or not. stay married. or not.

I am not covetous for catnip, Nor care where I sleep at night. It irks me not who takes my Favorite chair, or swats me off a table.

pens loaded with ink/exceeding or equal to/my volume of blood.

Tarzan peers through a telescope. Earth, in its aphelion, is approximately 40 million miles away. A star. He lives alone. He is old. He worries about going blind. Mars is cold. But there are ways to keep warm. He reads poetry. He lets out bloodcurdling…

There was only the sound of crickets.

You first hear about the wildfire on the old kitchen radio.

I roll over on the gurney or bed or whatever they call it and pull down my pants and underpants. The nurse gives me a shot in each cheek.

...I’m honest enough to know that fucking around has never been accidental or unplanned. Every time I did it, even in the rock bottom throes of esteem, sobriety, and life, yes, even on the brink of suicide, I knew exactly what I was doing...

I took four of them, and put on “Heroin” by the Velvet Underground, and sat in the bathtub, filling it with warm water. Submerging myself, I watched the water level dance in front of me, listening to Lou Reed wail, dragging him under the water level.