Family Television

Years ago, it was unheard of for homes to have televisions in every room. Most homes had one, if any, and it was usually placed in something called the family room, or den. And while I grew up with more than one television in my house, the large set was in the den.
I remember the sitcoms; I remember shows like Continue reading →

working man’s thought

Sunday morning and I started my shift before 6:00 a.m.
I stood at the time clock and exhaled my tired exhale. I entered my numerical code and then placed my hand inside the scanner.
After the clock beeped in its tiny beep of acceptance, the word “THANK YOU” flashed on the L.E.D. screen and I exhaled my tired exhale.

The cold weather has been relentless…
I went up to the 29th floor and stood on the setback of the building where I work. I sipped from my coffee, looking west, and watched Continue reading →

Something from The Daddy Diaries

Yesterday ended with these words, “Daddy, will you lay with me.”
And of course, I pushed aside the stuffed animals in my daughter’s bed, fluffed one of her several pillows, and then I lay down beside her. She tucked the blankets beneath her chin and snuggled her face into her pillow. She kissed my arm, which she curled into….and all was well.

I see this as a diminishing window of opportunity.

“Daddy, will you lay with me,” Used to be pronounced, “Will you lay wiff me.”
Supermarket was sukermarket and meatballs were pronounced neatballs.
The wheels on the bus no longer Continue reading →

Snow days

Snowstorms remind me of when I was a little kid and living at 277 Merrick Avenue. The snowdrifts were up to my knees and my short legs charged through the white piles of fluffy snow. I was bundled in an oversized winter coat with a scarf tied around my neck. I wore a knitted hat pulled over my ears, puffy mittens over my hands, and big clunky boots.
The Old Man used to call them space boots.

I loved the snow, though my toes would get too cold. My fingers were cold too.
Making snowmen or snowballs left my mittens wet, which made Continue reading →

a poem for you…..

This is for Daddy’s little girl~

You should know that I have never gone away.
And though you may not see me as you once did;
I see you more clearly now than ever before.
Remember:
While born of the body, the eyes close to sleep or they sometimes shut in thought. But I am not of the body; I am of the spirit, and my eyes never close,
not even to blink.


Continue reading →

my working man’s dream

Heading southeast of the J.I. Buoy, and passed the lobster pots at The Cholera Banks where small fishing boats work the bottom, and passed The Yankee, which is a little more than 20 miles out, and passed the H.A. Buoy, beyond The Bacardi, and south of the Texas Tower is a place called The Hudson Canyon.

I miss this place

On an early afternoon, we set out Continue reading →

yesterday’s thought

Everyone smiled when the sun went down. The lightning bugs began to flash their tiny green lanterns, which reflected above the small pond at the bottom of the hill.
The tree-lined mountains tucked beneath the color of sunset, and for the moment, all was quiet on the farm.

The cows moved closer to the barn. The two Continue reading →

an old piece written for a fallen friend

You slipped away from us and like a child of winter,
and found yourself in the conclusion of an ultimate hibernation.
Sleeping beneath the lifeless drapes that cover your windows,
your eyes were like tiny symphonies that stole light from the prospect of truth

 (Only, you never knew it)

It seemed as though the grin you kept was sharp
Like a knife….
and I suppose it cut too deeply,
sinking into the flesh Continue reading →

Sunday morning prose from the tattooed minister

On a day when I was lost:

I stood on a pier not far from the piers I would go to as a child.
I had been there before, but I was blind then,
or maybe I was too young to see.

It was as though I saw the ocean for the first time.
The sun beamed down and danced between the rippling waves.
I saw something in myself; a reflection, perhaps.
I felt a personal resurrection, and though I Continue reading →