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A Sonnet

by | Mar 21, 2017 | Poetry

My Little Stone Buddha

Like a glass eye looks into the abyss,
My little stone Buddha, on the bookshelf top,
Sits as a “symbol” of “inner peace” and “bliss”;
But as “symbol” is he what he is not?

Is he not just my sculpted end of pain?
The mirror looks back into my wild eyes,
And my old eyes look back at me insane.
Tonight, the pain is deep. Can’t the glass eye cry?

Is everything just a symbolic meaning?
Sure, why not? Probably even for him:
Crosses, numbers, alphabets for reading.
Is he not made from me and my dark within?

Does not the self, not the Buddha, hold the bliss?
We make much of nothing, which is all of this.

A Sonnet

by | Mar 21, 2017 | Poetry

Father and Daughter

I swam, back then, with some father’s daughters,
Back stroking only slightly out of touch,
Out to the raft in the starry waters
And never thought of their fathers all that much.

Alice, don’t judge me till you’re fifty-five
But there were midnight visits to “Ice House Pond,”
In my misspent youth, when I was still alive,
Where couples would strip, and swim and then bond.

And Alice, this I know for sure is true:
At seventeen we both were born to be free
But ’cause I’m your father and I love you
Please consider this seasoned advice from me:

As you lust for life avoid the crudity
But don’t miss occasional sponti-nudity.

A Sonnet

by | Mar 10, 2017 | Poetry

The Order in Things

The last swallow flies low over the lake.
The thick fir trees become the first darkness
Gathering along the shore. Leaves cease to shake.
The dusk foreshadows the lake’s silence.

The deep quiet is its own diversion.
The world is peaceful. My thoughts my own.
I change places but not location
As the mind takes in the scene and is alone.

Standing cold on the dock tonight
I think about the fish roaming hungry
Below while the preying birds in their flight
Circle above. Held in tranquility

Is the bird above and the fish below.
There is order in these moments that come and go

“Onaje” Gets Its First Staged Reading

“Onaje” Gets Its First Staged Reading

by | Feb 28, 2017 | ONAJE, ONAJE Update

Thanks to everyone who attended as we kicked the tires on “Onaje” in its first formal staged reading, February 22, 2017 in San Francisco. I’m so grateful for the talents and contributions of director L. Peter Callender of the African American Shakespeare Company, and producer Laura Lundy of Blue Panther Productions.

The actors all did a fantastic job bringing the characters to life, and it was great to see the shape of the play, to hear the words out loud, and get some welcome feedback from everyone.

A Winter Sonnet

by | Nov 23, 2016 | Poetry

City Snow

From a four o’clock sky the first snowflakes fall
To settle down on trafficked city streets.
Each snowflake falls separately, till all
Conspire to hide the city like a secret.

The last street lights go on, and the snow reflects
Upon the domiciliary landscape.
The more snow falls the less you really expect
The city to be what it’s supposed to be:

It becomes a beautiful blinking shape;
An image of slowing inactivity,
Slowing into snow drifts. It snows very late.
A pronouncement of peace subdues the city.

The drifting snow controls the city violence
With a voice made entirely of silence.