I suck down my last breath of cold April air and plunge
through the clinic’s main entrance, clutching my leather
bag against my side as if it were made of my own skin.
At the end of the brown buffed-linoleum hallway, the lab
waiting room sits empty. It’s four-fifteen on a Wednesday
afternoon; I’ve never been here at this hour. I am used
to weary throngs, clinicians in scrubs pushing their way
through.... [more]
Upon arrival at Café Casbah in Berkeley on the occasion
of her dozen students’ annual recital-cum-banquet, Rayna
(age “50,” real name Lorraine) hadn’t yet decided whether
she herself tonight would deign to perform the “dance
of the orient” (raqs sharqi, for those in the know) ... [more]
Outside, the leaf buds begin to appear in the shrubs at the edge of our yard, and flocks of quail come down to feed off the winter seed. My dog, a large Lab Collie mix, sits at the window—the sun pouring in—and whines uncontrollably at the fresh energy of life. I’m experiencing the same anxiousness as the clock winds down and I prepare my last few lectures before finals week, and then summer ... [more]
Salinger, I’m sorry, but “Don’t ever tell
anybody anything” is a string of words
I would like to wrap up in canvas and sink
to the bottom of the Hudson, or extract
by laser from the ribcage of all of us ... [more]
I imagined them starting at the top
lighting the end of each tight curl
like a birthday candle
until the flame hit their fingers
and the matches fell ... [more]
When she says sacrifice is something she understands,
she means there is no God of courage. He tells her he is crumbling.
He keeps his broken self in his front pocket, fingering it
like a buckeye ... [more]
