Memoir

  • Bargain With the Devil

    We’ve all done it.Even if we don’t admit it.We make a bargain with the Devil, the evil in life, to get something we really want.Thinking it’s okay.Just this once.With our bosses.With politicians.With money people.With the friends we wish were our… Continue reading

    Bargain With the Devil
  • Sand Water Sky

    On June 25, 1984, at 12:01 a.m., after what seemed like a forever trip from Washington, D.C., I landed at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) to begin my 42 years of life to date in Southern California, and man, it’s… Continue reading

    Sand   Water   Sky
  • A Distraction at 57th & Fifth Avenue

    Joe Vega is a lost young man who cannot find his memory, the light in his eyes, or the sounds of his past. There is no way back and no map to follow. He is stuck where he stands, void… Continue reading

    A Distraction at 57th & Fifth Avenue
  • Inspiration

    I’ve been told that inspiration for writing is everywhere. Just open your eyes.The person or object in front of you, even when it’s a computer screen or The view of the backyard through your office window. Look up at the… Continue reading

    Inspiration
  • 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
  • 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