I… Read full post »

GoDaddy would want our cold cash

But we ain't got enough of that stash.

Most other lit sites keep the riff raff away

Unless you're a friend or are willing to pay.

There are specialty places with limited… Read full post »

You gave us a way, for our fingers to play

All the night and the day, and new words we could say

Such as cursor and alt, reboot, mouse, scroll and save

And now you are gone from our midst so we wave: (Well, it's...)

 … Read full post »

A sheriff's deputy talked her out of jumping.  She was sitting on a ledge below the roadway over the river.  It was late at night and no one else was around. The deputy just happened to see her sitting out there.  He parked his cruiser on the… Read full post »

Adverse emotions jousted in my head when I finally recognized the typo. It was an 18-point italic head. You don't misspell words that big. Not if you're trying to pass yourself off as a professional writer – a literary one, at that.

But I do and… Read full post »

I know many of you whom I consider friends have a different view than mine on the issue of personal gun ownership.  With this in mind I'm sharing here the foreword to my just-released collection of stories, If the Woodsman is Late. Some of you may remember… Read full post »

Elmo Creedmore, junior senator from Iowa and a drop-dead handsome ambitious Republican, had just about finished his Caesar salad when his Blue Dog Democrat lunch mate finally got down to business. The noon sun cooperated with this shift from faux joviality by sliding behind a bank of serious clouds t… Read full post »

Much have I rated, commented and read,

And many forms I've sought to imitate;

Round many clever thoughts I've tried to skate

And met faint praise in every comment thread.

Whilst searching 'round for stuff to feed my head

Snagged was I by Con's Homeric spate;

Yet 'twas not… Read full post »

Cicadas crying for mates give the sweeter sound,

Their surrounding serenade soars with life and hope

Among the glad green leaves

As if to mock the generator's relentless throbbing groan.

New guy on the block.

Loveless robot.

Started its stubborn solo with… Read full post »

We cry when we squeeze out from the womb (dadumpdadumpdadump)

We cry when we think about our tomb (dadumpdadumpdadump)

We cry because we do not want to die (dadumpdadumpdadump)

We cry when we're afraid to try (dadumpdadumpdadump)

But I am not meaning to imply (dadumpdadumpdadump)

That we should not f… Read full post »

Mid-month, one of two crunch times for bill paying in Wall Street's latest War on the Middle Class. This is when my Social Security check magically appears in my account. First of the month is when the money I'm bleeding from my IRA shows up.

A friend sent me these in an email:

I started my first blog on Google's Blogspot on Saturday, September 19, 2009.  I posted three posts on my debut day, and only one of them got a comment, from a friend.  I started the blog the day after our family went to the movies and saw Julie & Julia.  I… Read full post »

"Bamy," for those of you who have been reading nothing but political nightmare scenarios… Read full post »

I started to subtitle this “a religious experience?” but decided as I and, I suspect, many others here aren't especially attracted to essays smacking even the slightest of the “r” word, and as this monstrosity is going to have a hard enough time luring and keeping readers anyw… Read full post »

My dad hated him.  Called him "Snotra."  My dad hated people by type. Until I knew better, I assumed my dad was right, and carried little regard for "that cocky little bantam rooster."

Our divergence came suddenly, when my high school cornet instructor mentioned Sinatra and I responded dispa… Read full post »

I watched from a window overlooking the driveway this morning as Sarah climbed into her little silver Toyota. Her friend Jessica stashed her book bag on the back seat, then joined Sarah in the front. They sat there awhile.

I imagined Sarah checking her instrument panel the way an airplane… Read full post »

Now that the Royal Wedding has presumably been officially consummated, we can move on to a perhaps less exalted union on the other side of The Pond. 

In the two or three weeks since Prince Blue met his new harem in County Gloucester (which side of… Read full post »

Nearly two months ago I appealed to you to help Chris Clifford, a local volunteer in my community, win the state Cox Conserves Hero contest by voting for him online.  The prize, besides being named "Hero," was that the parks and recreation group for which he volunteers would get a $5,000… Read full post »