Eleven months into a year that’s felt more like twenty in the living of it, a thought swam into my mind that if I should happen upon a nice, freshly dug hole somewhere, I might have the inclination to crawl into it. (more…)

It felt like I was from another time, walking into that dealership. Overly large, overly bright, and overly shiny. Against a backdrop of brand new Harleys, modern and soulless; racks of unworn leather jackets, unused parts and accessories… I felt like a curious relic. There was something about that spacious, immaculate showroom that didn’t quite square with my rebellious sensibility. I made my way with uncertainty to the front counter, feeling like I was operating on a different frequency, in some sort of warped alternate universe. (more…)

I almost ran over him at the route 60 exit
before the forlorn row of fast food restaurants
he had scurried across the road in front of my car
and then, in confusion and bewilderment,
agitated and translucent
in the harsh glare of strip mall and street lights
scurried back into the middle of the street
in search of something half-remembered
though exactly what, he did not know. (more…)

I’m standing in a dark Cambridge club, watching set lists being put out; last minute arrangements before the show. The mechanics, the logistics, the arranging and planning that goes into a 90 minute performance of music. (more…)

Empty page, budding trees, singing birds, brand new start
yet familiar yearnings in my heart
the pain of connecting, then by fate forced apart
and I wonder what you’re thinking, what you’re doing, where you are. (more…)

every once in a while
the universe decides that something is correct
a decision you’ve made; a course of action
however inadvertent and clumsy it may have seemed at the time.
everything falls into place.
and once it does, it cannot be stopped or undone,
despite your best intentions.
self-sabotage, self-doubt, fear of success…
it doesn’t matter.
fate or free will? in that rare moment, they align.
you’re dragged along by the river’s certain flow
and you’re left feeling puzzled.
“i wanted this?” i wanted this.
i just need to be reminded.
do i know what i want? what i need?
it comes down to trust.

i was lying in bed, trying to surround myself
with pleasant thoughts,
enough to ease myself into
the menacing new day.
when i heard a knock on the door
i was alarmed -
who would disturb me like this? (more…)

even when we were together
you never wrote for me.
your poetry was about any number
of mundane things
but not of love; or if so, love abstract
not of me.
i didn’t inspire – i was only “good enough”
that’ll do, i suppose. (more…)

He arrived to trim the giant blue spruce in front of my house. He must have been an arborist, a ‘professional man’ as my mother might say. I was at some higher vantage point, my mind engaged elsewhere. I think I was on the roof. Why was I on the roof? (more…)

If you’ve visited my “about” page, you’ve already been sufficiently warned. Consider this a first dipping of my toe into a very cold and curious ocean. There will be more, muse willing. Have no fear; I’ll continue to promote musicians I like, and to make feeble attempts to keep up with Boston-area bands as well as, inexplicably, those 2,983 miles away from me. But for now… (more…)