Calico Jack
I can smell the sweat and tar of your greasy jacket, red as this colleen’s hair, calico as rough as the stubble on your face. High boots, broad-brimmed hat, rust-edged cutlass and a pair of …
Category: History
Pondering at Promontory Point
“May God continue the unity of our country as the railroad unites the two great oceans of the world.” – Engraved on the golden spike It was a cloudless day in early Maythat followed years …
The New Alchemy
Might we again relearn what once was known To forebears long ago but somehow lost By later generations–scorned and tossed Aside like fads or childish play outgrown? How can we ever hope now to …
This Ancient Evening
This ancient evening has visited Countless times across the centuries. The cool air holds the gazes of Peasants, warriors, and Kings. Their many tongues utter Silently through the dusk. Pulsing like cricket song… Deeply familiar. …
Collision
The train was fast approaching; it was speeding up the track; a giant metal monster in a rage of smoking black, when suddenly, towards the train, a horse and wagon veered, colliding with the engine …
On Receipt of a Punch Bowl
(with apologies to Oliver Wendell Holmes) This antique silver bowl you gave to me one Christmas time, still tells the myths of olden days and haunting, ancient rhyme; They were a free and fiesty bunch …
America’s Crossroads
Because they have their mortal fears Of terrorists in bandoleers, Of men who marry other men And girls who might be lesbian, Of those who feel they must eschew The values some would hold them …
The Auction at the Farm
The neighbors gathered in the yard to have a look around, The cowboy hatted auctioneer had yet to make a sound. There’re trailers full of household goods and tools from the shed; The furniture sits …