Speedbumps

so, as if turning 80 wasn’t big enough,
and Covid hadn’t left me with certified long-term arthritis,
and what was left of family life fell into a chasm of quicksand,
the therapist I selected to help me reset my inner engine,
because she’s as analytical as I am,
an outside alter-ego,
tells me I am ready to go back to work.…read more

When I was a child, the word most often applied to me was shy. Not true. I simply enjoyed watching. Everything. Every night, I would write in my book, a book I had liberated from my father’s store. An order book. Lines and spaces. I could print very well by the age of five so I considered myself a writer because what I printed looked just like t…read more

Homegirl
Dedicated to the original scriber
If I Can Do it So Can You

When I was a child, the word most often applied to me was shy. Not true. I simply enjoyed watching. Everything. Every night, I…read more

I Grew Up In An Opera

Silence polluted the apartment
like smoke from my father’s cigars.
My mother made rare appearances
due to lengthy bookings in darkened rooms.
My uncle the doctor gave me candy
when he visited her.
The Rabbi said I needed to be patient.
I was nine; what is patience?
Every night
my father drank 2 shots of rye and read…read more

Dear Uncle Irv:

You would be proud of me now, directly, without having to bury a laugh or get your eyes back to normal when someone said something about me. Or when I told you my most recent story. Anyhow, you would be proud of me for a variety of reasons and likely this would be first: I finally stopped smoking. Finally. Had to do it with…read more

Hall of Famer

Prepping for the morning wash-up,
I found an all-to-familiar frowny face in the mirror,
squinty eyes peeking through hair
continuing to get thinner
as opposed to other pieces and parts
that could certainly benefit from that descriptive
and actual transformation according to
both my cardiologist and primary care MD
who recommend…read more

Chicken Littleitis, Severe

Have you heard?
The sky is falling.
Unpack the suitcase
said the little bird
parked in the nest
behind my eyes,
and she was chirping like mad.
The voice,
so like my mother’s
when she wanted to tell me something
was going to be too hard
or I was too small.
Don’t leave she would say.
Today the voice said
you are not…read more

So,
today I take my first extended walk
in my new neighborhood.
Along with fabulous loose-fitting pants & shirt
of upper-upper-middle age,
I am wearing one of those corporate sacs
offered at mandatory trainings I still attend
to support & enhance the skillsets I have & need
to keep the licenses I have & need
that support my house/car/insurance…read more

Coffee.
Window watching.
Staring.
Seeing.
Always coffee first.
Sunshine. I see sunshine.
My eyes and brain and spirit
are very happy.
I go to the nearest chair
on my quasi-porch
and slowly absorb the coffee.
Ah hah,
I am ready:
messy red sneakers
and happy socks,
whooshy pants,
and a bright pink tank top.
I’m going to my version of h…read more