Will I always remember your laughter? Will I remember the dancing? Will you visit in dreams?       We met in a motorcycle shop. I was in love, but you were afraid. We grilled sandwiches, Drank wine, and smoked Mexican pot. Your resistance vanished like smoke in the wind. I was 22 and you […]

“I want to hear Anthony play music, too,” I say to my son David who is visiting from North Carolina. Anthony is his younger brother who used to dj in CA but now lives a few miles from me. We sit outside at Atwater Winery enjoying the view and eating Mexican food from La Monarka’s […]

“It’s July 19. Where have you been? Just a few years ago, I saw your ancestors by the beginning of June.” Don’t scold me, he says, hiding his hind black and orange wings behind a milkweed leaf. I’m doing my best. There was drought in Mexico all winter and few flowers survived. Without pollen, many […]

In a dream: I stand at tall windows overlooking a big city. I’m here to sign a publishing agreement about my butterfly book. Two women and I laugh with delight as we imagine what might be. A man in a business suit joins us carrying a shallow bowl of thick black ink. He carefully places […]

Walking toward our favorite Chinese restaurant in Ithaca, NY in the late 1960s, we noticed a huge Buddha statue in a dusty storefront.  The sign on the door said “American Brahmin Bookstore.” Someone was unpacking books inside, so with a name like that, we were curious. Soon Vic and I were hanging out at the […]

Three days ago, there were four. They had new feathers and hungry mouths Now there are two, Plus one sibling lying under the nest, Stiff and dead. I remove the dead baby and see three ants. Was it biting ants or a House Sparrow murder? Hurry, my heart says. Make a plan. The babies cry […]