Matryoshkas

January 15th, 2010 - Comments (5)

And so I spring out from my mother
just as she sprung out of hers
in this enduring cascade of women:
We are born, we expand, and we give birth.

Posted at 10:18 am in Poetry - Comments (5)

Christmas Haiku Roundup

December 22nd, 2009 - Comments (1)

Back at the start of this month, Vinnie Kinsella and his crew at Declaration editing put out a call for holiday haiku. Today they’ve published the submissions on the Four and Twenty website. Some good stuff there!

When I sat down to write my submissions I ended up knocking out quite a few more than the limit of two that could be submitted, so I’ve rounded up the rest and dumped them here. That’s right, I’m a yuletide short-form poetry machine! Boo yah. So Merry Christmas to all, and to all a haiku.


Frost on fir needles.
Footsteps crunching in stiff grass.
My breath makes small clouds.


Each outing requires:
five coats, five hats, ten mittens,
and glacial patience.


Darkness comes early,
but bright webs of colored light
blanket the houses.


Immunize me, Lord
from these feverish salesmen
and their pandemic.


Steam marks the cold air
above this squalid manger
where heaven bends down.


And how could this be?
Amid poverty and crime,
my God, a baby!


He is birthed here in
reverse transfiguration:
glory hid in flesh.

Posted at 5:21 pm in Poetry - Comments (1)

Babushka

December 2nd, 2009 - Comments (3)

“When you’ve walked from Orlovka to Vodstroy,
barefoot in the heart of winter,
nothing can shake you.”
Or so I imagine her saying,
this stocky old woman, headscarved and serene,
waiting at the bus stop with her grandson
and reducing all things to size
by her wrinkled, unflinching gaze.

Posted at 10:09 am in Poetry - Comments (3)

And the Three Before That...

Sleepover

Saturday, October 17th, 2009

We’re babysitting the Bush kids tonight so that Jon and Amanda can have a fun time out on the town.

I’ve Got a Story in the S4C Spotlight

Friday, October 9th, 2009

The 2009 S4C Spotlight just came out, and my short story, “Novak’s Last Theory” is in it. I’m jazzed!

Sledgehammer = Adventure

Friday, September 4th, 2009

Sledgehammer was this past weekend, and wow, what an exhausting but fantastic marathon of collaborative writing.

And the Ba-zillion Before That...