Some Things

Some things
silence the
professional speaker.
Some things
stump the
international intellectual.
Some things
paralyze the
confident wordsmith.
Some things...

(eyes widen:)

eyes widen:
brilliant, cranberry-
orange-colored foliage

Today Is Our One-Year Divorceaversary

Is your life

as good

now 

as you hoped

it would be?

And Yet

You broke my heart,

abandoned me,

and ended our family

and yet

I still miss you.

You Chose

You were my best friend

and partner for 16 years.

We made vows,

and built a life and

a family together.

And yet, you chose

to end our marriage,

leaving me no choice 

at all.

(Music never)

Music never

lets me

down.

Spice by the Spoonfuls

The Hungarian mushroom
soup I had at lunch
today reminded me of
Till Midnight, the
tiny cafe across
the street from
my alma mater.
I went there
once or twice as
a student, unable
to afford more
than soup, dessert
and the spicy jazz fusion
piping through the speakers.

Not Alone in My Aloneness

As essayist and American culture critic

Gerald Early said in Ken Burns'

documentary Jazz, 

"No matter how much you yearn for

community and yearn for community,

in the end there is this loneliness

and there's no way you can escape it."

No matter how much I yearn

for community and work to foster community,

in the end, it appears that my lot

in life is loneliness

and there's no way I can escape it.

Facebook from Another Perspective

I remember when I used to check

my Facebook page and you were

in our bedroom while I was in the office,

just a room away

in our house.

I remember when you were

my best friend, partner and spouse.

Now, you are merely a little circle

on my Facebook page,

living clear across the country,

in someone else's house.