Posts for June 7, 2026 (page 4)

I left before the dew fell.
I did not hear the goodbyes or witness the backclaps
or smile at the kindness of handshake hugs that come
after a long day of earnest, gentle celebration. I did not offer
any ‘you, be good now’ or ‘stay safe’ half-raised waves, but I
nodded well-wishes toward the booth folks and
the happy children and the hillside wild roses that bloom
whenever Heaven calls on them to lift…
lift their delicate modesty for all to see.
I drove home…carelessly…recklessly…free
around county curves, slowing only
to admire baled hay, abandoned porches, and the green,
overgrown wonder blanketing the mountains around me.
Then, the day was over, and like the others-
the dogs, the artists, the workers, I slept.

“A lifetime of cozy

When I say
What a beautiful sunrise or
This coffee is amazing, or when
I marvel at the striations
in the bedrock along I-75
or the webs of branches
over our heads at McConnell Springs,
or I say Let’s have pizza tonight
or Let’s read in silence or Let’s do
our taxes or Let’s go to the store
and crash carts into cracker displays,
what I mean is
I have dived head-first into you
and am floating in the fluorescent
electric endless fire you call your heart,
and if you asked me to leave I would,
but I would crumble into a line
of ash shaped like my signature because
there is no sunrise, no pizza, no bedrock
or branches or books that survive
without your breath, and what I would
very much rather do is disintegrate
in here, to dissolve into your neurons,
to defy all physics and open my chest
and welcome you to do the same.

[This is in my WIP collection — The Law of the Spirits: Lexington During Prohibition. A “blind pig” was an establishment for the illegal sale of alcohol, sometimes a business, sometimes a residence.]

                Prohibited liquor seized by federal agents 
               Lexington Herald

The backdoor rattles with cops’ knocks;  
our blind pig is exposed. 
They come to seize our whiskey. 
The predicament unfolds.   

There must have been a sneaky snitch  
who gleaned a fat reward. 
How carefully we sold our booze,  
a closely guarded horde.   

I grab the bottles, toss the lids, 
but find my sink still full. 
I pour the whiskey in the froth – 
so tragic to befoul.   

The agents charge into our home, 
they search throughout the house. 
I foolishly leave the bottles out – 
appalling to my spouse.    

They search so hard for evidence, 
but find no drops of drink 
until the supervisor comes  
upon the kitchen sink.    

They cluster at my sudsy brew,  
all sniffing like bloodhounds. 
“It’s in the dirty water, Sam!” 
and laughter sounds around.   

Leaning solely on God today 
Every breath comes out as a prayer
Asking for healing for my dear friend
Never doubting the power of God
Interceding with love
Neverending hope
Giving my all to petition for my friend

I was drowning
in that familiar old heaviness,
trying to claw my way up.

Reaching for a surface
that might not exist.

The uncertain, yet familiar darkness.
Fighting to keep the immense heaviness
at bay, if only for a moment longer.

Realizing,
after so much time trapped,
you find the darkness
staring back. 

tasmanian devil
whirling in dervish
options available radial

our collision preempted
I identified least fatal pathing,
full sent into your life

illocution illuminates
jagged vertices of heart
healed with much scar tissue

as a dervish must rotate,
she must return to her motion:
tornadoes elsewhere

A reporter interviews a woman who had been

swept off her boat while white water rafting. He

wants to know how it felt to be sucked down into

the whirling water, especially knowing, did she

know four people had died because the melting

snow pack made the water run high? How

did it feel to be so close to danger?

Did she know she might die?

I want to know about the thrill of reaching up

through that white water before the surging

wave dragged her under. Did her heart beat

with wonder at the swirling water before it

pushed her up and over the rocks? Not

was she afraid but was she filled with

wonder? Did she love it? Was

that why she did it?