I Hear Oakland Speaking
We walk in May Day sunlight where Menace barks at a bulldog chained behind a fence at the bent junction of Market and 35th. I pet my twelve-year-old poodle mix. […]
The Monarch of Metamorphosis
I lie on my queen bed or do I lay with my queen? Does my bedroom monarch lay or lie on me? As a monarch butterfly perches on my kingly […]
Fatherhood Growing
The first time I lied to our daughter, I declared “you can do whatever a man does.” Words shot out like a pressurized sprinkler onto her freshly formed frame. The […]
Grocery Store Slaughter
In a grocery storeoff Tenderloin Road,a venison strutsto the meat display displayed like a photoshootmodel hungryfor a juicy tenderloin. Wait. Does a venison or deer strut? I got it. Behind […]
You Step into an Oakland Day
On a neighborhood sidewalk cracked by finger roots, I spot you through the MLK Café window where your feet hook into MLK Way down the block from Marcus Books. […]
In the Heart
In the Heart and Vascular Center waiting room, a Malaysian woman from Reno with a face filled with stories throws a nod my way. “What brings you here?” “My […]
Concrete and Petroleum through the Centuries
The 21st Century is being built on 20th-century concrete. Concrete cracks like my sandy-colored face under a Global Warming sun. I transverse down Madison Street carrying a plastic […]
In Reflection, I Screwed My Brother’s Head
Published in Still Human (Falkenberg Press, 2025)
A Zombie in Mountain View Cemetery
Under an onion moon sliced into an Oakland sky, I move within the skin of an Evil Dead Zombie over mummy brown soil. My brain is rolled tight like […]
When a San Francisco Wind Shoved Me Back
on 7th Avenue like a 7th grade bully, a mind in the wind flung my flimsy self about. I still lurched forward a block from Golden Gate Park’s shuddering leaves. […]