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 →
Girl’s Room
______For George Oppen A stranger peeked in Plath’s and Dickinson’s windows late at night, and thought, “Man, these are lassie rooms,” and laughed alone. Yes, a woman’s room is a girly room, and I hope men know that the intelligent prostitute will excite a man, a whore not a girl reaching for... Continue Reading →
An Excerpt from A Son’s Loyalties – The Park (Chapter Four)
This is an excerpt from a novel I'm working on. I would appreciate any feedback. Thanks and have a great weekend. Heads turn when they see Kao’s dark blue car. He parks near two makeshift volleyball courts, where a mixture of Southeast Asians are playing. Most of them are Mien and Hmong and a few... Continue Reading →
Migrant Burden
Migraine headache ___a migrant backache ______from father to son. An American daughter-in-law _____our burden together. Donna wears her emotions on a flushed pale face washed with ivory cream ___what she brings to the table white rice _________mother taught her to wash and steam. Her father and brother wonder why I never finished business... 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 →
Fortune Cookies, Too
The son becomes the father _____when the father passes Your obligation becomes your life We replace the old __hardwood living room _____with thick gray carpet It's not an accident if you allow it Katie's waist thins over time stretches mark the months _____Billy depended on her Make sure to caress them __when you bathe Mother... Continue Reading →
The Next Day
This is an old poem I wrote about fathers and sons, relationships, love and being an immigrant. I think I wrote it a half dozen or so years after my father passed and maybe a year or two after I broke up with a woman who I thought I was going to marry. I think... Continue Reading →
Welcome to Great Falls – A Serial Novel – Part 26
November 10, 2014, Monday By Monday morning, the sports blogs and radio shows had picked up the story of Saan's accident. Some bystander photographed the overturned SUV and Saan lying unconsciously on the sidewalk. Other photos showed broken bottles of champagne and Jack Daniel's. The phone calls started early in the morning and Kao... Continue Reading →
Mister Saechao 