Late morning mother made me hold the rooster’s legs as she hunched over holding the wings a horizontal slash across the neck The blood poured into a round ceramic bowl muscles twitched in death my hands struggle for life It was a necessity for the ceremony father would perform later for grandmother sick... Continue Reading →
How I Became… A Smoker
For the record, I don’t endorse smoking. I think it’s one of the most self-destructive habits. It’s why I don’t like smoking around children, especially toddlers. I have this habit of cupping the cigarette in my hand when I walk past children. Regardless, I’ve been smoking for more than 20 years and the other day... Continue Reading →
On a Street
Music filters out the café door where I sit with my friend, cigarettes and coffee in our hands, commenting on the dress of passersby, who could care less about our existence. Though she wants to be great, she fears doing something not ordinary. Once, she was great at soccer but it wasn’t cool to... Continue Reading →
An Addictive Personality
Here's an old column I wrote more than fifteen years ago. Some references are dated. When a friend in college told me that I had an addictive personality, I took it as an affront. Why shouldn’t I? The implication was that I was somehow abnormal or… I’m not exactly sure, but it was negative. He... Continue Reading →
If you read one thing today… George Saunders’ Commencement Speech at Syracuse University for the Class of 2013
George Saunders touches on regret and the importance of kindness in an address to graduates a few years ago, but sometimes I think this speech is more appropriate at the beginning of the school year or just about anytime really. There's a link at the end to read the whole speech, but here's a little... Continue Reading →
The End of Summer
I recently took a trip to Portland to see some old friends. I guess that’s the gist of my trips these days. I’m not really looking for new adventures, I’m just looking to keep those old relationships. Maybe I’m doing it wrong but I can live with that for the time being. I didn’t do... Continue Reading →
Simple Clarity
_____For Jean Donnelly Oh, Jean, it’s okay If you do it beautifully, My name’s rhyme Nothing else should Clarify so simple The pen’s condensation A long draught The ink’s condescension A first draft The end product ___begins logic Who creates I know ______I shall meet— The scholars—and The daffodils— At night the... Continue Reading →
For an Old Lover
I can see your gaze on the horizon, steady, not like mine as I drive alone glancing at everything ____________________that measures how far I am from home. The number on the trip odometer is a fraction, nominal in the permanent measurement, scant but significant, vital to the equation’s precision, it itself a testament, _________________as... Continue Reading →
The Star
This star burns _____so far and invisible __________to our eyes. Her colors masked _____by distance, wavered __________in the journey. Through the lens, _____the mascara’s imprint; __________a Polaroid dried of rainwater.
Ramblings – The 2015 Late Spring Tupac Edition
June 16th, 1971/ Mama gave birth to a hellraising heavenly son… It's Tupac's 44th birthday. Reminds of high school where for two years I had either Me Against the World, All Eyez on Me or The Don Killuminati: The 7 Day Theory in my car stereo. Yeah, rolling around the Central Valley in a lifted... Continue Reading →
Mister Saechao 