Orange River

I’ve aged even in dreams.But not you, my boundless soulso alluring in your constancy, turning toward mewith the expression  of a college love I’d nearly forgotten, turning in orange light with one shoulder to the shadow of your back room.In my sleep  the dead come to...
On Waste Lonely Places

On Waste Lonely Places

I live in an old neighborhood near a small downtown, just beyond the reach of the last parking meters. Any of the houses here would look stately and haunted perched on a hill somewhere, but as it is they’re all serried together down the long city blocks: most gables...
A Fish in the Tree

A Fish in the Tree

One morning I saw a stick in a tree. Curved and broken, it lay across a forked bough about six feet out from the trunk. The buds had yet to open so I could see the whole of it, black against a red sky. The tree itself, a young ash, stood in a park near my home. Late...
Bear Butte Diary

Bear Butte Diary

July 6 A wet morning. The clouds scud by, looking dark and broken. They have that startled watchfulness of things flying past. I hunch on the gravel lot, making coffee. Six scoops, and one for the pot. Across the ravine, the yellow grasses of Bear Butte lift into fog:...
Nameless Season

Nameless Season

I hunch in the porch shadows, feeling for the rough side of my key. After a few exploratory taps, I ease the blade into the lock then turn to face the sky. At half past four in the morning, the stars are still out. They winkle in the branches. I begin my walk, about...