Studio8 - Uniting the Arts

gap mountain small peak, but "strenuous" in the guide books... park by the swamp cross the stream through woods to the field - then UP past an old ski tow's corpse to an orchard and beyond up to the boulder where I allow myself a rest up some more to the scramble - four-wheel drive only now does the...

a pickup truck!
bark bark bark bark bark bark!
there, it's gone now

( While my ex undergoes chemo, I'm tending her dog, a poodle mix more accustomed to an enclosed backyard surrounded by well-manicured suburban homes and paved streets than to my decidedly less refined lifestyle. Still, she's coming around. Perhaps I'll even be able to restore some of the rough edges...

first cup of coffee
primes the system
for the second

Guess we've all known people like that. I've done my share of stuff I'm not proud of, but I don't think I've been a chronic user or exploiter... at least I hope not.

"No one ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the American public" - unknown (often misattributed to PT Barnum; possibly paraphrasing HL Mencken) The rise of AI and its inevitable misuse are making it even easier to evade accountability - "I never said that!" And the tragedy (for me an...

I don't know if she posted much of her own work outside the Haiku forum - but she commented everywhere, like a cheerleader, leaving words of encouragement for everyone else. I just thought "In Memoriam" was incomplete without some mention of her name.

her father-in-law said COVID would just "go away on its own" - he failed to mention the 400,000+ Americans it would take with it. He said that no one in history has suffered as much abuse as he has. I suspect residents of Auschwitz & Buchenwald might disagree with him. He said Mexico would pay for a...

Birch Hill WMA 10 minues down the road quiet magic no vistas no towering oaks no thunderous waterfalls - just the confluence of two small rivers a few remnants of days past a glacial erratic or two but best of all - peace serenity stillness silence broken only by one's own footsteps and thoughts a h...

October 7, 2023 an email sits unsent in my draft folder suggesting that she and I collaborate on another long-distance poetry reading... then the news Hamas war gunfire Nir Oz hostages ... weeks of pretending to cling to hope until the word arrives: she's gone both she and her beloved gone and with ...

thanks - been looking back myself lately, too like when you climb a mountain your eyes focus on the trail watching your feet stepping here not stepping there til you reach the overlook - then you look up sky back the miles you've hiked maybe a river below or a pond or even an old road that cost you ...

roadside rivulet
that wasn't there
yesterday

love the imagery in these, totemic symbols depicting a contemporary theme. Our forebrains may be exploring the cosmos, but we still live by our hindbrains - it's still who we are. I hope your battle drives out the demon - my ex is going through it too. You're both in my thoughts.

patter of rain
moss-covered boulders -
backyard shrine

sunrise
needs no fanfare
to command awe