Category Archives: Family

Pete’ll Eat It (3-Pete)

Posted on November 15, 2019 by sputterpub

My cousin was a sturdy fragile boy, sun-sensitive and dad-less in LA, who often visited. Then he’d enjoy our walks-and-talks, and time my father made for him – we welcomed him with love and board – we corresponded when apart … Continue reading →

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Re Pete

Posted on November 13, 2019 by sputterpub

The first defender of my poetry is dead. When I was young, my brothers shot at birds and rabbits in the scrub and scree behind the school. Their cruelty made me hot with indignation comforting to vent. My cousin, older, … Continue reading →

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Cuz (Pete)

Posted on November 11, 2019 by sputterpub

The grief engulfed me when I tried to speak. Of course I mourned your unexpected death, but as I talked my tears began to leak, informing me along with ragged breath. You weren’t young but weren’t ancient yet. You’d had … Continue reading →

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Familiar

Posted on November 5, 2019 by sputterpub

I hang out with a toddler twice a week. I focus on him focusing on sights, expressing feelings, learning how to speak, reducing naps for longer sleep at nights. I’m also spending hours, now and then, with stroke recovery. At … Continue reading →

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Senescence

Posted on October 31, 2019 by sputterpub

Like reaching for a smoke after you quit, like crossing knee-on-knee inviting pain but helplessly habitual, it’s fit that I should miss you, even though disdain and criticism are the strokes you gave me growing up and aging with you … Continue reading →

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Crisis Text

Posted on October 15, 2019 by sputterpub

There comes a time in every child’s growth (much oftener than once), when life becomes too thick to process, though he may have both his parents present and a wealth of chums. It takes a village to address the job … Continue reading →

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Sateen

Posted on September 10, 2019 by sputterpub

My 90 year-old mother said to me (she’s really 93, but that’s too much for meter), that she’d like her bed to be equipped with linens softer to the touch. “I have two sets of sheets. But I’m not keen … Continue reading →

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The Omniscients

Posted on August 13, 2019 by sputterpub

My father was the guru of my youth, responding to my questions patiently. It felt as if he always told the truth – he gave me answers with calm mastery, or helped me understand we haven’t yet. We ranged from … Continue reading →

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Perturbation

Posted on August 6, 2019 by sputterpub

My mom insists her mother was a saint. I never met the woman, but I’ve heard the anecdotes forever. Mom would paint her mother immigrant-heroic, stirred to worship by (we thought) her early end. “Her energy was boundless as her … Continue reading →

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Don’t Stop Now

Posted on July 3, 2019 by sputterpub

When you were 12 years old, your father quit his job, his engineering work, his life in many ways. He took to home, to sit and view a hundred channels with his wife. He never more felt vigorous or well … Continue reading →

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