The Haint

The Haint

          The fire had burned low. Its flickering light joined the soft glow of a kerosene lantern hanging from the lifting pole at the back of the lodge.  I lay on my cot, staring up at the tipi canvas suspended overhead by a cone of slender poles.             Walter...
Remembering Dad

Remembering Dad

My father is dead and gone. Nothing remains but echoes and the footprints of his long walk through life. What can I say? Why would I say it? He can’t hear my words, they are just more echoes in the space he once filled. We had a contentious relationship when I was a...
The Joys of Summer

The Joys of Summer

  The air is stagnant filled with the sweet smell of blackberries fermenting under the hot August sun A large animal, grazing the brambles An expert tracker would be hard-pressed to distinguish my scat from that of a bear shapeless, black, and filled with...
Seasonal Concupiscence

Seasonal Concupiscence

Spreading maples throb with bees The air tastes like honey Everywhere, trees are blooming Here and there, beneath licentious conifers and cottonwoods dripping with pollen, a shy morel appears.
Early Spring

Early Spring

Watching the grey clouds shifting east overhead. Spring song fills the air with melodious twitter-are those robins? Roosters near and distant offer a hoarse counterpoint. A raptor glides low across the field.  Good morning.
Silence of The Lonesome

Silence of The Lonesome

The silence of the lonesome is rent by wails and cackles A cabal of coyotes singing incantations in the dark hour of morning long before the rooster dares stir