poems
Grandma and me, 1980 The poem below from my book, Undertow, is about my grandmother, Betty Friedman. In 1925 she married my grandfather, Morris, a Merchant Marine electrician, who traveled overseas for several months out of the year. Being a hardworking and independent woman, she had no trouble managing the affairs of her household alone. … [Read more…]
While searching my files for a short piece to read at our writer’s club Christmas party this year I came across this story I wrote in 2009. A good reason to save my old files. James Toboni’s old fishing lure given to his son, David Toboni. A Christmas Guest It’s a week before Christmas and … [Read more…]
For a gift last year, I received a magnetic poetry kit, and I’ve been having fun posting short poems and displaying them on our refrigerator. Then I decided to take pictures of them and post them on Facebook. I like how Facebook asks me what’s on my mind. Sometimes I’d rather not say which is … [Read more…]
Undertow is the title of my first collection of poems, a chapbook comprised of 20 pages that I published in 2011 with the help of a local print shop, Copy Corner. That was 13 years ago. It was difficult to choose the poems for this book, but I had encouragement from my critique group at … [Read more…]
I love autumn. This photo is a close-up of a decoration I set out every year. “Oh, Orange” is a favorite poem of mine from my book, Light the Way. Since orange is an autumn hue, I’m also adding it to my blog’s décor. The poem started out as a list poem that had nothing … [Read more…]
My book, Water Over Time: A Collection of Stories and Poems, has a theme. I was 13 when I moved with my family to Guam. I didn’t know what to expect. What I found was an entire culture different from what I had known. The stories and poems in this collection were written after a … [Read more…]
My good friend, Jackie Fisher, died in October from cancer. Her illness was treatable for many years, until it spread, and she needed much stronger drugs to combat its final stage. By then, the side effects proved to be too much, so she decided to stop treatment. In late 2021, when I was diagnosed with … [Read more…]
My business card says I’m a writer, a blogger, and a poet, but I’m going to add dreamer to the mix. Below is a poem I’m working on now. I’m not sure if I’m finished with it but hope to be by September 6th, the next meeting of my critique group. It’s already been through … [Read more…]
Sometimes on the verge of waking up I have remnants of dreams piecing themselves into visions. One I had this morning felt like I was driving up a mountain road. I could see a highway bordered with redwoods clearly, and, for that matter I began to see everything else clearly too. I had been asking … [Read more…]