Author Archives: sputterpub

Dam

Posted on July 26, 2013 by sputterpub

So there was I, a river-skimming bark, a traveling observer on the tide, reacting to the sunlight and the dark, disdaining anchorage at either side, and thinking I could keep on drifting so, until I’d spot a something on the … Continue reading →

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Life Contingencies (End)

Posted on July 25, 2013 by sputterpub

“Oh Brad – I felt like a piece of shit. It didn’t help that she was young and lovely. I mean it would have been awful no matter who slipped and fell, but it was of course easier to feel … Continue reading →

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Life Contingencies (Middle)

Posted on July 24, 2013 by sputterpub

It was a demonstration, but they couldn’t tell if it was for Haiti, Palestine, or janitors. They were so accustomed to Friday financial district activism that they hardly paused. The waiter nodded toward the street with a fond look on … Continue reading →

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Life Contingencies (Beginning)

Posted on July 23, 2013 by sputterpub

“So how does a pension actuary differ from the other kind?” Brad asked. He leaned forward in his chair and the buttons pulled across the belly of his blue shirt. “Actually, it’s just an alphabetic matter,” Susan explained. He heard … Continue reading →

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Hex

Posted on July 22, 2013 by sputterpub

Every minute yesterday it seemed I had to push me up an endless hill with leaden legs, on avenues that teemed with people who looked hungry, sad or ill. The sun was golden warm and stronger bright than it had … Continue reading →

Posted in Bath, Poetry | Leave a comment

Q & A

Posted on July 19, 2013 by sputterpub

A question needs an answer or it dies an awkward conversational demise. But all the questions hunt for are replies; if truth the object is, it’s been forgot. I’ve long ignored the evidence my eyes and ears collect in all … Continue reading →

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JSYK (3 of 3)

Posted on July 18, 2013 by sputterpub

There was a button I was supposed to use if I needed the nurse. I had to reach above my head to push it. Some time late during that long night, close to morning, I felt another wave of nausea … Continue reading →

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JSYK (2 of 3)

Posted on July 17, 2013 by sputterpub

I think even my five-year-old self thought it was pretty inefficient to make me part of whatever their system was, but I held onto the paper and I got upset when some people pushed the sleeping man away from me. … Continue reading →

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JSYK (1 of 3)

Posted on July 16, 2013 by sputterpub

Kids: My earliest memory, I think: I am posed like a doll upon my painted wooden toy box to be dressed, and then I’m riding with my parents, standing between them on the bench seat of their Chrysler, to drop … Continue reading →

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B & W

Posted on July 15, 2013 by sputterpub

Damp, the heavy air depresses trees and pushes on my shoulders as I stride. Each molecule seems large enough to squeeze it like a sponge, with fingers modified to make of morning fog a syrup pool, to juggle water traveling … Continue reading →

Posted in Poetry, Weather | 2 Comments