My grandson, Joshua Bathe, passed away last April after being diagnosed with an aggressive cancer five months earlier. The following is my poetic tribute to him.             Elegy to a Grandson           Grief undulates           like an inchworm           and just as slowly.           It forces one to use           the conditional tense:             HeContinue Reading

Betty Brewer was my great-aunt, though only four days older than my mother. I never knew Betty. She died before I was born, killed by a jealous wife who caught her husband and Betty in a lover’s tryst at a boarding house rented by the day. Family spoke of BettyContinue Reading

This short poem was written some years ago when my daughter first started riding the bus to school. Nowadays, she is definitely unmoored from my hand but hasn’t washed out to sea (yet). The neighbor’s chairs (see photo) were cast off to parts unknown. Two Chairs Fading Each day onContinue Reading

Alvin Goins was a day laborer living in Rhea County, Tennessee, during the early and mid-years of the twentieth century. He was a Melungeon, a descendant of Portuguese ancestry. He was also illiterate. Yet, he had an extraordinary gift for numbers, able to calculate sums mentally in seconds, qualifying him,Continue Reading

     The ornaments on my Christmas tree      tell the story of my life.      Fisherman for Mamaw hangs      at the top,      she’s gone now, but      that man smiles like she did      when she saw me opening my gifts.      Red hope, an ornament for losing her      and remembering her a year later      whenContinue Reading

— From Death, Child, & Love: Poems 1980-2000 Last night while trimming our Christmas tree my son pointed out how I’d not written many poems lately to which I replied, “It’s true. But sometimes life is more prose than poetry. Do you understand?” A stupid question considering what he’d justContinue Reading

Privilege of Witness for Monica Thinking about driving following you up lamenting my skin that some queen isn’t going instead of me someone who knows what I can’t whose teeth clinched quiet too as white-armed answers, anemic, flew up when you, your answers perfect. Electric. You wear those goodly words.Continue Reading

Asthma and allergic diseases increased after children moved from free range outdoor activities to sanitized indoor playrooms and virtual playgrounds. According to the “hygiene hypothesis,” early exposure to germs and allergens is required to develop a robust immune system. As a “Mr. Mom” who prefers bike pedaling to pushing aContinue Reading

Henry Everett The old man lived for the sound of a chicken squawking, the sentry’s warning at which he drew back light from a windowless cabin, a portal cut squarely at eye-level in a single oaken door, then stuck the sightless barrel directionlessly out into night that thundered once withContinue Reading

The Appalachian wilds offer outdoor enthusiasts a wide variety of adventures, from leisurely hikes to hair-raising white-water kayaking. When the stakes go up, the costs of making a mistake rise too, as many less skillful partakers know well. I have on multiple outings literally “put some skin into the game.” Continue Reading