A rat is munching away at my heart. His miniature rat teeth are reasonably sharp If he takes tiny bites I don’t feel it quite, Until all of the nerves he’s managed to bare Will finally protest, when they touch the air And feel like it’s acid, or fire or lye. What has changed for you? *Nothing. Nothing has changed. I love you today like I loved you yesterday. I cannot even imagine anything that would make me feel right about not loving you.* There is a tone in your voice that was not there las...

When I was a new father I believed: My family will always be together, And my kids will do what I say; Because I’m the parent And it’s what I say. When I was a new father, again, I believed: My five children will eventually grow up, But they will always do what I say, Because I’m the dad. Now I am a new grandfather and I know: My children were never mine, Because they were just small people, And they will not do what I say, Until they are the parent.

I gave you my heart. You smiled sweetly and dropped it In a cuisinart.

Because she walked around with her nose in the air, and because she seldom spoke to anyone in the school, many of her classmates thought she was stuck up. She was not one of the popular girls, and was even a bit mousy; maybe dumpy would be a good description, but none of the people who thought this about her had ever seen her dressed up. She always wore jeans and a sweatshirt, and even on the hottest days she at least wore an oversized T-shirt. Her shoes were always the same pair of approved...

Light. Violet yellow light. Sound. Water tumbling over rocks, and a gentle stirring high in the trees. Smells. The musty, bright smell of fresh moss, clean compost, fir and cedar. As I open my eyes I realize that I am home. Oh not the kind of home that is full of stuff, and has couches and televisions and windows. The kind of home that feels comfortable because there is no time to rush you about. The kind of home that is not warm because of central heating, but because you have to work just ...

Inside, deep, I am Bloody. Within the deepest part of me are Organs. Without them I will Die: Liver, to make me Live; Heart, to make me Love; Brain, to give me awareness of what I have, and What I am; Guts, for the wherewithal to seek Glory; Backbone, for the guts to Stay The Course; Bowels that I may feel compassion Therewith to give my heart Even to my Enemy; Spleen, that I may have weakness And learn to accept Pain…and P A I N One bladder, But two kidneys to fill it That I may learn Patien...

Who, Me? A Writer? Riiight! In the beginning, there were books. There were books of all kinds, but mostly those of the scifi/fantasy genre. These books were my friends. They kept me company and nurtured me, they helped me learn and grow. They protected me. I needed a lot of protection in the beginning; protection from mean children and the hurtful words a mother can say. Protection from my sisters, protection from myself. I was an only son, and I lived with four sisters and my mother. My fath...

The Teacher She was four feet eight inches tall, with red hair and fire in her eyes. When I first saw her I was late for my first day at a new school in a new town. I knew nobody, having moved 2000 miles about a month before. As I walked in everybody in the class turned to see who was late. This was devastating to an eighth grader who was hoping to make a good first impression. The look on Mrs. St.Claire's face would drop an elephant. She was small but she radiated power. I just knew this was...

Monkey Christmas He was 18” tall when he wasn’t wearing his combat boots, and weighed about a pound in his skivvies. He wore a white open faced motorcycle helmet or a black beret on his head. His clothes were the fatigue green of the US Air Force working uniform, with airman second class insignia on the sleeves, and his name, Oogles, on his left breast. He had never seen action and had yet to earn any medals, but he was equipped with his own .38 revolver fully loaded with ‘Super Bang” caps, a...

A kiss. A kiss. One single tiny kiss. A brushing together of two sets of lips. A lingering for an instant; then A pulling apart, separate again. A kiss. A kiss! A tiny little kiss. Now in my life naught is amiss. I can't believe what you have wrought, With just one kiss my heart you've bought. A kiss. A kisss. It's only just one kiss. And yet my heart ne'er soared like this. My soul resides in deepest bliss, The gift of just one tiny kiss.