Author Archives: Dave

Home After a Glum Day Home after a glum day.Yellow crocuses are breaking ground. Jumping up and downand spinning around,my dog likes memore than I like myself. In my world,even the shadow has a shadow.I look for a placeto lie … Continue reading →

[haiku] end of an affairsprinklers go off on schedulein the hard rain

Autism Turns 21 It is hard for us to guess what’s on your mind.We question you until you answer yes.Outside of family, the world is not so kind. Sometimes it’s twenty questions until we findwhat triggers you. We understand your … Continue reading →

A Moment of Kindness It was a long time ago,when I was young and in my prime.I was entering the city for Passover. Lo and behold, prisoners were leaving the city at the same timefor their executions. One was Jesus.He … Continue reading →

[haiku] end of an affairsprinklers go off on schedulein the hard rain

Cloud Formations On simmering summer afternoons,Mother and I stretched outon the backyard grassat our tiny wartime tract houseon Brighton Streetclose to the Lockheed plantand we tried to identify objectsin the clouds.Those were the yearsbefore smog commandeered the skiesover the L.A. … Continue reading →

Looking to the West for Matthew and Ginger We are looking to the west—to the old Smith Toweron the left, to tinted office towers on the right,to the piers and giant cranes of the Port of Seattle, to whitecaps on … Continue reading →

Those People The Paleo-Indians, the first Americans,are checking out the neighborhood.Woe to mammoths and mastodons. Life is good in 1491.Conquistadors from faraway Iberiaclaim land for the king of Spain. Driven away by the Church of England,Pilgrims, Puritans and Roman Catholicsare … Continue reading →

[tanka] like a stuttering newsreelfrom the 40s,the same events and the same emotionsof joy and disappointmentroll across my mind

Jap I was born in 1942.One of the first words I learnedas a small childwas the word Jap.I heard it ten thousand timesbefore my fourth birthday,and when I learned to readit was in the L.A. Timesevery day.Every day.

This is a Test Matthew 4:1-11 The verbs to tempt and to test are not the same.God did not tempt Abraham to sacrifice his oneand only child, Isaac. For it is written,“After these things God tested Abraham.”The devil tempted Jesus … Continue reading →

Childhood Memories Memories of my childhoodare hopelessly corrupt.Facts are elusive.The core event may stay the same,protruding like a stonein a turquoise tidal pool,but ancillary facts appear,disappear, reappear,and shape-shift over time. Facts are fleeting,but feelings are foreverand absolutely incorruptible.Memories are not … Continue reading →

Resilience Carey, Idaho The people come and go,but Carey is used to the churn.Time is a daunting flow. Pioneers long agolet the church run the town.The people come and go. Roads and railroads come slow,and water is a grave concern.The … Continue reading →