Longstack The only place it is a mountain is from our dock.Driving around, I have seen it from other angles,No more than undulationsIn the New Hampshire landscape.But across the pond it risesGently, right to left,And runs asymmetrically along a ridgePerhaps … Continue reading
Cabin Fever Ten inches of wetHeart-attack snowSits in the driveway.When we first came to Golden PinesMy shovel was a shieldOf pride and pleasure, unwillingTo give in to the years,Eager to break out of restive days. But Golden Pines does not … Continue reading
Fashion Our grandson, starting high school,Wants to be sure he has the right book bag.I think back to the salt & pepper sports coatIn which I went off to college,Random flecks of this and thatAgainst a background I recallAs a … Continue reading
Between college and the ArmyI had some time to kill at homeAnd discovered quite by chanceThat my parents watched soap operas.They tried to make it look accidental.“Let’s see what’s on,” my dad would sayAs he turned to the channelThat carried … Continue reading
Shreveport 1982: A downtown church onChristmas eve, well loved, well cared for,Worshippers in fine clothes crowd togetherIn the old walnut pews– it is too warm for furs:Married daughters, handsome nephewsIn from Houston, people we do not know:Of all the places … Continue reading
1. To our cottage on the pond,I ascribe human attributes,And why not:Four generations ofIdiosyncratic postures,Favourite chairs,The smiles of grandsonsAround each corner,In every splash off the dock,Scent of decades of pine rooms,My father’s shaving brush,Memories in other artifactsWe did not buy. … Continue reading
1.Language, quixotic, carries weightIt cannot bear.A boy spent hours in practice—Tennis, piano scales, free throws.Later he practiced medicine,His sister practiced law,Always getting ready, it seemed,For something else.At the restaurantHe thought of a bad punAnd made a note:He also waits who … Continue reading
Summer Cottage 2020 June Our daughter and her husbandCame up this yearTo help open the cottageAnd by the time we arrivedHad done things we used to do:Got the kayaks from the guest roomDown to the dock,Swept up the thick yellow … Continue reading
Worcester Airport In the ’80s you could flyPiedmont into Worcester, Mass.Weary Friday-night salesmen joked,Helped the attendant pronounce the name.This was my parents’ penultimateSummer in New Hampshire,My father agitated,Convinced they had leftWithout packing, and hopingHe could get a shaveAt the barbershop … Continue reading
After a Hard Rain We do not have a rain gauge.You can look it up on the InternetIf it matters.Or you canSee how the dock sits in the water.The pond is up two inches, I would say,Maybe three.We have one … Continue reading