Writing
Confessions of a Hat: Bamboo & Bones
When you see me coming Larger than life I derail your train Of thought No mere mortal Gazes upon me Unaffected I collect bones Unanswered queries Delivered by Gawk hawk Fly into my bamboo There’s no rhyme Nor reason No familiar Character to pin me to I’m the nightmarish Original Residing Under your bed Shape-shifting … Continue reading
Nilla Wafers Aren’t Cookies
My family lived on a military base when my father was stationed at Little Rock Air Force Base. My best friend, Bill, who lived across the street had two younger twin brothers and a stay at home mom. This was back in the 70s when kids could play around the entire neighborhood without parental supervision. … Continue reading
More than a Donation
One good thing about moving, especially after nearly a decade in the same apartment, was taking that inevitable trip down memory lane of forgotten items. What to keep, recycle, trash and donate. I unearthed a lot of teaching materials that could have been either donated or recycled, depending on whether it was something that I’d … Continue reading
Cooling Off Texas Style
I’m always amazed how silent those assholes who make a snowball in the wintertime as visual “proof” there’s no such thing as global warming are when we have record high temperatures year after year. I met my writing group at a restaurant and hoped I’d misunderstood the organizer’s text when she stated that she was … Continue reading
Everyone’s a Wolf
Remember that story about Little Red Riding Hood? Which version of it do you tell? Is the wolf the bad character? Does the huntsman save the day? Is grandma feeble? Does Little Red still walk the straight and narrow because the whole journey symbolically talks about losing her virginity and the red denotes her menses? … Continue reading
Don’t Call the Cops: Your New Neighbors Are Black
My roommate rented the moving truck and I hired the mover. Never before in life have I been so self-conscious of “moving while black,” but in this current political climate, I seriously considered getting a canvas banner printed up with all three of our pictures on it with a caption that read, “Don’t Call the … Continue reading
No Room for TV
For the first time in a decade, I have a roommate. We moved into a two-bedroom, two-bathroom apartment. Now, we have two TVs. Initially, we planned to put her larger TV in the living room and my smaller one in my bedroom. My bedroom must also have an office space since I work from home. … Continue reading
Newfound Flexibility
For the past week, I’ve taken a daily dose of CBD oil along with a dose of an anti-inflammation booster after exercising. At the end of the week, I attended my usual Friday noontime Bikram power hour class and discovered a breakthrough. According to the Bikram dialogue, yogis should only stretch as far as we … Continue reading
Apartment Cleanse
At one point in my life, I changed apartments 9 times in 10 years. That was also over a span of 5 countries. Such an easy way to be adventurous, simply pack up and move. Then I landed in the fertile grounds of Austin. It’s easy to assume that with age and maturity, that I … Continue reading
Bringing Back the Mullet
I started dreads back in ’94. At the time, I was a Peace Corps Volunteer because water was far too precious to waste on perming my hair. This practical approach to the limited amount of freshwater turned out to be a lifelong commitment to dreads. “Commitment” may be the wrong word because that usually implies … Continue reading