Arnie’s Wall

The little people were not welcome. But they came. They sat in the rocks of the Arnie’s wall, trilling and ducking into the gaps between the rocks whenever Arnie opened the door or came around the corner of his house. They had turned the gaps in the rocks into doorways to their homes. They ate … Continue reading Arnie’s Wall →

Of All the Ways

Of all the ways to open— blackbird on post—oke-n-leedr red winging away

How Loud Does a Thirty-Two Finned Fish Whistle Blow?

How and why and when Jonas Ammitian caught the biggest rainbow trout in the world is in part because of the man he met in a bar in West Bench, Montana, but mostly because of the kerfuffle being made of his life at the time. Jonas was not even a fisherman. He was a plain, salt … Continue reading How Loud Does a Thirty-Two Finned Fish Whistle Blow? →

Cora Doesn’t Find What She was Looking For

When Cora Greenfline turned away under that heavy sun, she turned away forever. What she turned away from was what she had not found, and what it told her of what she thought she was looking for. As it turned out all there had been were two gaudily painted toy-like engines facing each other, as … Continue reading Cora Doesn’t Find What She was Looking For →

Frog Pond Haiku

When I pass a still pond of water, especially during the spring when the Frogs are sounding, I think of Basho's poem Old pond frog jump in plop I have not read it in the original Japanese--cannot is more accurate--but have read that in the Japanese the poem is such an onomatopoeic poem that sound … Continue reading Frog Pond Haiku →

Endangered

What if a species was going extinct practically gone almost KA-BLOOEY and what if TV and the Times stopped midmeaning and maybe nobody anymore said three armed men or six armed men or nine armed men or anything about any amount of arms and what if TV and Time couldn’t figure the only possible something … Continue reading Endangered →

The Losing Champs of the Universe

Of all the animals in this universe, the most ineffective, most inefficient, most diabolically destructive is that monster mankind. That we know of. There may be a planet somewhere out there in the nethers of space on which exists a sister species who is using their allotted two-hundred thousand years—give or take a million—to develop … Continue reading The Losing Champs of the Universe →

Have They Kept the Swallows in Capistrano this Year?

"I am certain that the Lord, who notes the fall of a sparrow. . . ." Thomas S. Monson No ill more nauseous than still white quiet in the catkin willow grove. Noise

A D-8T Cat, a Single-Wide, a Large Woman, and a Grizzly Bear

All the lights were out. Rain, snow, sleet and hail drummed, thudded, and pummeled on roof, siding, and window. Lightning flashed. Thunder rumbled. Sport cowered under the bed. Ritter opened another beer. Furrz licked her paws. Dwain bitched because the internet was down and you can’t WOW and massively murder multi-players when the internet is … Continue reading A D-8T Cat, a Single-Wide, a Large Woman, and a Grizzly Bear →