Monthly Archives: April 2011

Perspective

   Today is traditional tax day. They’ve provided a little extension this year, as if tax returns were term papers, but April 15 is a time when it’s natural to contemplate our system. Usually I’m not negative. But sometimes I sink … Continue reading

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Bad Idea

     When I was around 14, I was in like with a girl named Jill. I admired her name, her thick cooperative dark blonde hair, the faint freckles on her face, her athletic medium-sized body. I liked her woodsy home … Continue reading

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Paraphernalia

Usually it’s a thin device, to begin a piece with a dictionary definition. I remember receiving criticism for such a thing in high school assignments. So I’m impressed with the new Sprint ad on TV right now, featuring the CEO … Continue reading

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Eloi 1966

     I found this in the old poetry folder. I was 16 when I wrote it. I was starting my senior year of high school. The Summer of Love would come right after graduation. I remember that I composed it … Continue reading

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Habits

   My father was a proponent of moderation. He loathed extremism and he dreaded mindless habitual activity. He used to tell me that it was sensible to form good habits, like the custom of turning off lights as you leave a … Continue reading

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Campfire

     When I was 43 I backpacked for the last time. I’m sure of that, because the highlight of the trip was its ending. I would have paid a hundred times what I did for that hot shower. Not that … Continue reading

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Body Slang

Do you look into a person’s eyes when he or she is speaking to you? I rarely do. My attention is drawn to the moving part: the mouth. Oh I’ll check out the cheeks and the chin and the lines … Continue reading

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Rigmarole

I was rereading a Nero Wolfe mystery recently, and the word “rigmarole” jumped off the page at me. Every once in awhile that happens; I notice a word in a way I never did before, become curious about it, like … Continue reading

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Money Love

I got into the footlocker recently, and found a tattered folder titled “My Poetry.” It contains the first poem I remember writing (published in my third post in this blog, last July) and I smiled to read that I remembered … Continue reading

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Soup Secrets

 I am not a good cook. Oh I’m sure I could say that I would be good if I did it more, but that’s empty. There are scads of activities I could vainly predict my own success at, if I … Continue reading

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