Sy Johnson: RIP
Sean MurphyLet's face it. There were few human beings who could give Charles Mingus what he needed (what he wanted? the universe can't contain such multitudes and appetites); there were a…
August 2002 – August 2022: Sanctuary
I visited my mother’s grave the first several years for the same reason I used to attend church: it was expected, it was meant to make me feel better, it…
August 2002 – August 2022: Three Poems
The Things Prepping for a Colonoscopy Procedure Prepares You For… The pre-procedure, a to-do list equal parts ordealand ritual preparing you for what will happen, is A preparation of sorts…
August 2002 – August 2022: Gifts & Blessings
i. August 2002 - August 2022 Twenty years. I’m of course of a certain age (and have been for some time now) that just about any event may seem like…
For My Mother on Her Birthday
I’m scared, I said. “It’s okay,” she said. “You know I’ll never leave you, right? I would never leave this place without you.” How many times did she tell me that?…
Please Talk about Me When I’m Gone
MY MOTHER EVENTUALLY became acquainted with the white-walled world of procedures and all that happens—before, during, after and beyond: Hope and fear, faith and then despair, the nagging need to…
Roger Waters: Shining On
There are so many musicians I admire, a smaller circle I adore, a smaller one still I revere, and a relative handful I’m grateful for. Artists whose work has changed…
Original Poem: Chet Baker’s Smog
It remains a blessing for this writer to find publications that “get” him --and what I'm attempting with my ongoing project (the first installment, of course, being The Blackened Blues,…
Original Poem: Ghost Poem
A night image of train tracks heading towards the Milky Way Galaxy in the USA. I'm always appreciative of the great work Washington Writers' Publishing House does, and if you're…
Original Poem: South Loudon Street, First Sustained Frost
Big thanks to Plum Tree Tavern for publishing two of my poems in their latest issue, which explores the topic of Homelessness. (And thanks to them for bearing witness; with…