Literary Works
There is no order of importance to the work that follows. Just somethings that just need to be said, generally, or to a specific someone, dead or alive. A story that needed to be told, something about me that is worth noting………who I was or who I am at this late stage in my life. I don’t want misinformation out there after I am gone. I was here, for better and worse. I want people, who care to consider my existence, to hear it from me……..what I was about, what really happened. Well, here it is to the best of my recollection. Although most of this is serious stuff, there is a bit of humor and unavoidable sarcasm mixed in. Homage paid, apologies made to those deserving, rants aplenty in an attempt to reach a failing species and the world it has created, and some very late understandings and realizations about myself, past and present, written for my peace of mind and for posterity, should anyone ever care to take a look. There is little control over that. I, in turn, just want to sleep well this evening and have a better day tomorrow. After seventy some years of confusion and conflict on so many levels, it has all come down to this. I am okay with that.
The Two Percenter
There you were on that stage, an old highlight from America’s Got Talent. Torn white jeans, black Doc Martins, and dark tee top. For a brief moment you took my breath away, attention and focus captured by that look.……..pixy haircut, dark skin, incredibly bright eyes,...
Skin
I I was always comfortable in your skin, but not mine. I loved the custom car you drove.........chrome wheels, low to the ground, dice hanging from the rear view mirror, dual carbs and exhausts. That Hurst shifter with the chrome handle. You were able to “double...
Did They See?
Did They See? Eight forty-five on a Saturday evening in mid September. New York State thruway, sixty miles an hour at best, top down, fifth gear, two hands on the steering wheel. Roadster just humming down this stretch, making our way back from another successful...
My Time Away
My Time Away On most any afternoon I am unavailable between the hours of one and three. Don’t call me, I won’t answer. Ringing my doorbell or knocking on my door is a waste of your time........there will be no response. I am deadly serious about this, Just ask the...
“High Plains Drifter”
High Plains Drifter** He was a high plains drifter of sorts. Not that he rode a spotted horse from one frontier town to the next. His drifting took him only from Kingston to New Paltz and back, thousands of times over rte. 9W, in an older ford pickup truck which was...
Cool
I used to be cool. No, not the Fonzie, James Dean type of cool............ black leather jacket, white tee shirt, slicked back hair, all the current slang and that “ tude “ No motorcycle with chopped pipes and suicide shifter. Only a borrowed Honda 90cc with very...
Homage to Who?
You probably do not know “Janie Greenspan”. But you have known her, most likely, by a different name. She was that girl, teased, under appreciated, and generally roughed up by those guys who thought they had it all going on. They didn’t, of course, which she probably...
Regrets
Regrets I have more regrets than a few and yes they are worth mentioning. Sorry Mr. Sinatra, we can’t all be you. On those gray days, the times when the dopamine level has shifted a bit, those regrets can be monumental and consuming. This is one of those times, things...
Sharon
Had she been alone in those final moments? It may have been a year or two after our brief relationship ended that I happened to pick up a copy of our local paper. I would do this from time to time just to catch up on the big news that was happening in our city. Often...
The Encounter
The Encounter She was gone, but her presence and the emotional intensity was not and I was out of sorts. I wanted to go back into that warm light. It just couldn’t end as it had. I lay in bed, frustrated, feeling helpless, with the day wanting to begin around me. No...
Second Chances
Second Chances I often wonder where they are now, those who fled, those cast away. I believe that they have never looked back, as I sometimes have. A credit to them, frustration for me. There are those, a few I am quite certain, that I would want back, one more go...
Karen Kaplan Broke My Heart
New Years 1966, Karen Kaplan broke my heart. I mean shattered, in pieces, all the life sucked out of it. The high school ring returned without warning. Out of the blue? Well.........maybe not. It was a Saturday, the last day of 1965 and all of us standing in front of...
Please Don’t !
Please don’t ask me to; don’t expect me to; don’t be disappointed when I don’t. And please don’t take it personally. It isn’t..........well, probably not. But then again, maybe. You should know, I used to be able to. Smile, that is. That ability has been forgotten or...
You Lost, Mr. T
You lost, get over it, suck it up for god’s sake! Why has losing or finishing second become such a difficult reality to accept these days? I don’t recall it being that way in the past. I remember winning as well as having my share of losses and defeats. Yes winning...
I Know Who You Are
I Know Who You Are You, orange face, yellow hair, red MAGA hat, I see you, hear from you everyday of my life. It has been over three years now that you have been our “leader” and I still wonder who in a sane mind, a sound mind, for that matter any mind, could see you...
Wake Me When………
WAKE ME WHEN............. Voices of the poor, the impoverished, the shanties, open sewers, tin roofs, irrepressible squalor ring loud demanding justice and equality. Gently tap me on the shoulder when they are heard, when we stop patting ourselves on the back for the...
OOPS!
We have all had those moments, when it strikes us that we have screwed things up. oops!, I can’t believe I did that, how stupid or how embarrassing. The keys locked in the car, the most important item on the grocery list not in the bag when arriving home, the...
YOU
There was always that nightly wish for good sleep and pleasant dreams. As a child it seemed a forgone conclusion, a reluctant but necessary time. Final good nights, head down, eyes closed, and simply fading away to distant and sometimes strange places. We learned that...
Urban Chronicles
You drive down my street, speed no consideration. I have seen you behind the wheel, yes behind the wheel, phone in one hand beverage in the other. The strength and control that your legs must have, given the task of controlling that run away vehicle. And the morning I...