As if night knew and understood it had no hands,
a blacksnake crossed the gravel in the afternoon, moving from one field to the other, undulant across the road and eventually ending. The earth, when dust under its muscles,…
Squall Line Stalling in a Memory of Rain
A sidewalk begins to spot, then the odor of wet canvas comes, and peat. Oils on the surfaces of rocks are released. Papers, piled near window sills or screens,…
1996: A Novel
CHAPTER 1: PRELUDE With the dog half dead, winter mice sneak into the house to empty his bowl. CHAPTER 2: SUMMER NIGHTS They follow…
The Patriotic Blues
In “the excitement of firing” one young soldier on the roof of No. 25 Northumberland Road knocked himself unconscious with the butt of his own rifle, while his comrade,…
Redcurrants
There had been cat-stink out by the bushes, and I was scared for the song-thrush, its nest a chalice of grass and twigs, carpeted with mud and human…
Invocation to Time/No Time
A blessing on the endurance of childhood, each moment a lifespan and a whole hour runs over the horizon. Blessing on the hard rooms of old age, a…
Annunciation
In evergreens gravid with snow, the red startles, a sudden flare-- you see the rounded wind of bird, an exhalation, …
Marian Apparition
At times we believe we have been wronged, so perfectly and bankrupted, that someone must come to redress us and does so— a stranger appearing who reveals an…
Beach Path
It’s still there. So are my dead parents in their bathing suits and white terrycloth robes, trundling their beach bags, chairs, and umbrellas. The path connects woods to river,…