Trick Talking

Posted on October 2, 2026 by sputterpub

I wouldn’t write these stanzas, but what stuck
inside my busy head was strident-speak
by someone I’d admire if she’d tuck
away the vehemence and her technique
of loud opinionation. What the fuck
is gained by shooting down with a critique
a helpful phrase an expert to me spoke?
“Well, that’s one woman’s notion,” was her poke.

“You seem to have strong feelings,” I replied.
She stammered something then and took a beat.
The vehemence without a sputter died,
and her expression shifted to a sweet
acknowledgment she never meant the heat.
Did I unearth a clue? When she’s a bitch,
can I by parent-speaking trick-entreat
a testy cranky attitude to switch?

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Urban Purple

Posted on October 1, 2026 by sputterpub

I caught these purple people with my phone
as I proceeded Tuesday on my way
to one of three appointments. T-shirts shone
and stature charmed. They seemed to all obey
the lead, and two attendants didn’t sway
their watch. Perhaps the strollers couldn’t catch
the house about to edge their steps. I may
have been the only witness to this match.

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Not to Worry

Posted on September 30, 2026 by sputterpub

I’m channeling The Princess and The Pea.
Instead of bed, I’m sensing in my neck
an irritated spot that cautions me
to sniff not blow. It’s like a tiny speck
of incorrect two experts cannot see
or feel. I’ve had for years a movement check
left side, so maybe that relates to this.
Or it could just be more of agedness.

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Ignition

Posted on September 29, 2026 by sputterpub

I had the unit cleaned two days ago.
It’s almost like I knew the air would chill.
Today the inside temperature – below
the 67 mark – did not until
late afternoon reach 70, although
I put the fireplace through morning drill.
This early cold is nothing I remember,
but I’m igniting fire in September.

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Introduction

Posted on September 28, 2026 by sputterpub

It’s like a trope – “I’ve never been this age
before.” I say it often cause it’s true,
and though we’ve books and references to gauge
the drastic strokes and lapses that accrue,
I write about the minor stuff – a page
on aches or stuttered sleep, a journal through
diurnal slippage. I’ve a new intent –
collecting words addressing this descent.

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Garden Cosmos

Posted on September 27, 2026 by sputterpub

September brings the Garden Cosmos up.
Unplanned or sown the lanky volunteer
emerges, shoots to height, and sprouts a cup
of purple that surrounds a central sphere
in split-pea hue bedecked with yellows. Near
the blooms the hummingbirds and bees are seen
in flit and flutter sipping autumn cheer,
a-frolic in a yard’s last gasp of green.

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Inspirational

Posted on September 26, 2026 by sputterpub

Concerned about his health at 68,
for though he comes from hearty stock, he’s slow
to move beyond a dog walk from his gate
for 15 minutes out and back, I know
if he’d put effort into air, he’d grow
an exponential way away from death.
I hold his hands, and sit him straight, and show
him half a dozen ways to take a breath.

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Lost & Located

Posted on September 25, 2026 by sputterpub

I plucked my favorite tractor cap, and wore
it several times to shield my face from sun.
I centered it and walked out my front door
and, actually, I found it kind of fun.
Protected (nose and hair), I looked for more –
I thought I’d several others than the one
(I don’t buy much, but seldom throw away).
I found the old collection yesterday.

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Dream Catching

Posted on September 24, 2026 by sputterpub

Awake 4 times before the sun arrives,
and years beyond dope-smoking, means you get
to screen a slew of dreams and what survives
your surfacing are scenes that don’t upset
but also don’t dissolve. You form archives
that last at least until your throat is wet
with morning coffee. If you jot them down,
you trap vignettes from sleep with verb and noun.

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The Quality of Air

Posted on September 23, 2026 by sputterpub

Air quality this summer has been great.
Prevailing winds have not been acting weird.
No fire has besmirched our normal state,
and though eccentric cloudscapes have appeared
at times, most mornings I appreciate
the air’s caress on neck and shoulder, steered
by breeze, and after sigh as Zephyr nods.
Ignoring ills, I thank the weather gods.

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