Author Archives: sputterpub

Conditions

Posted on April 26, 2017 by sputterpub

With regard to Isabel’s marital commitment, the third time was the charm. She wasn’t serious the first time, and Jack understood. They were in love: yes. They wanted to live together: absolutely. But it was 1972, and Berkeley; neither they … Continue reading →

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Twice Removed

Posted on April 25, 2017 by sputterpub

On Saturday she drove an hour to meet an ex’s niece’s gathering of friends, and parking her Toyota on some street, she socialized until the natural end arrived, and shower guests arose to go, but she forgot where she had … Continue reading →

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Musca Moribunda

Posted on April 24, 2017 by sputterpub

The trellis will be sieged in hungry bees in 18 days or so, and by late May I’ll hear the whine mosquitos make, that wheeze of wings that keeps me tense and sleep at bay. Some months ahead come spiders … Continue reading →

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Anti-Matters

Posted on April 21, 2017 by sputterpub

My alternate reality is relatively bland: The children’s dad and I did not divorce. He drove me to distraction with attempts to read my hand to make me happy – strategy of course that’s guaranteed to wreck a couple’s pilgrimage … Continue reading →

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Titration

Posted on April 20, 2017 by sputterpub

Now I’ve been smoking pot for 50 years. At 17, Gail offered me that toke. I liked it even better than my peers: Discovering that I was born to smoke (my mom inhaling cigarettes 3 packs a day when I … Continue reading →

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August Buds

Posted on April 19, 2017 by sputterpub

There’s the yellow of lemon or the gold of the sun, but neither describes the base color of this bloom. It’s like the hue of sweet butter: that primary yellow with the creamy cast that oleomargarine doesn’t achieve. The markings … Continue reading →

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Wisteria

Posted on April 18, 2017 by sputterpub

It doesn’t seem to matter how much rain we get – the trellis doesn’t bloom till Spring has spent at least a week, till we obtain the light of April, and the laurels ring with birdsong dawn and dusk. We’re … Continue reading →

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Pedi

Posted on April 17, 2017 by sputterpub

I gave myself a half-assed pedicure, exfoliating while I soaked my feet and thinking my activity as sure a sign of coming spring as noontime heat and evening light. I polished, moisturized, and contemplated budding in the yard while robins … Continue reading →

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Reef

Posted on April 14, 2017 by sputterpub

As if we didn’t have abundant griefs of late, with drought and flood and ailing trees, we’re decimating all the coral reefs – our monkeyshines resulting in degrees of warmth we never need and can’t dispel – we’re too far … Continue reading →

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Reading Middlemarch

Posted on April 13, 2017 by sputterpub

In olden days, before TVs and phones, when books were authored leisurely and long, when letters were substantial, and the bones of narrative were dressed with right and wrong and mannerly philosophies, then calm after a day of work and … Continue reading →

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