Image by antonio pedro ruiz

  • space is the place/an ode to Sun Ra

    Just past midnight on New Year’s Day in 1980, I witnessed a performance by the late jazz composer, bandleader, pianist, synthesizer player, and poet Sun Ra at D.C. Space in Washington, D.C, under the influence of acid. This is a tribute… Continue reading

    space is the place/an ode to Sun Ra

  • The Long Walk Home

    True Story. It was our parents’ rule: don’t run after fire trucks. “You could fall behind them and get hurt,” they warned. But when you’re ten years old and live in a six-story, cold, brown-brick apartment building in the South… Continue reading

    The Long Walk Home

  • random poems

    random #710excavating memories for lessonsfor explanationsfor guidancefor a reason why all of thisis what it is. for how and why i got herefor some guide totoday and tomorrowand some time in the futurewhen you/me can’t rememberanymoreor want to. random #2595we… Continue reading

    random poems

  • The Cult of Hate

    “When fascism comes to America, it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross.“—Sinclair Lewis It is a faint memory, but it’s there. At some point in my childhood, I was taught to beware of Russian people, because… Continue reading

    The Cult of Hate

  • Madman

    Madman. The headline screamed the state of affairs at the highest level. How did we get here when we didn’t have to be here? We could have stopped him in November 2024. The evidence was right in front of us.… Continue reading

    Madman

  • drinking

    Jack Danielsand Eddie, Mary, and Joey, or Pat, or Jose, or Eduardo, or absolute and If it has alcoholThat’s fine too. No, you’re not living television show called CheersBut everyone knows your nameandYou have no clue who you are. We’re… Continue reading

    drinking

  • I Ain’t No Superman

    Man, I can’t catch a break. Hard living. First, my knee replacements. Both knees. Then, my recent brush with life-changing trauma, a stroke. It reminded me of my last body-slamming event: a blocked heart and the pacemaker implanted in my… Continue reading

    I Ain’t No Superman

  • Summa Cum Laude

    My second anniversary of graduating Summa Cum Laude from California State University, Long Beach, at age 75, is May 21, 2026. A celebration marking eight years from 2016 to 2024. After the long journey Arriving homethe feeling of ending and… Continue reading

    Summa Cum Laude

  • daydreaming of home

    i remember little a fogged memory south bronx coming from rican dominican roots. the patterson projects john adam housesa child into a teenager dates days places people their names have faded away like the clouds i would stare at through… Continue reading

    daydreaming of home

  • i want to dance

    i want to dance through today tomorrow forever stepping through music doors across moving floors upside down right side up spinning like a wild windthat you will never catch. i want to dancemove effortlessly as if floating standing still but… Continue reading

    i want to dance