Language

  • An Interesting Life

    I’ve often said that at seventy-seven, I’ve lived an interesting life.An understatement. It’s times like now when you look back at your life. Celebrate the victories. Learn from the failures. I often think about where I was born and raised.… Continue reading

    An Interesting Life
  • Catching Memories

    It’s strange what you miss when you have a stroke. One moment, your mind is full of so many memories that you can’t recall them all. The next, poof, gone.You must truly want to remember one to make it a… Continue reading

    Catching Memories
  • Searching for Words

    Something changes in you when your brain breaks. A stroke. Even a mild one. If there is such a monster. Inside, you see, feel, and hear the world as you remember it before February 25, 2026.Speaking loudly. Performatively. Your seventy-seven… Continue reading

    Searching for Words
  • The Temporary Tenant

    When my life convertsFrom matter into energy E = mc2The tombstone will pronounceHere lies The Temporary Tenant I have been a tenant of so many Dreams NightmaresIn so many Cities Towns NeighborhoodsPins on a map Of the U N I… Continue reading

    The Temporary Tenant
  • The Last Days of Fear and Anxiety

    This essay was originally published on October 11, 2024, one month before the election that returned Donald J. Trump to power. Thanks, America. “The moment we no longer have a free press, anything can happen. What makes it possible for… Continue reading

    The Last Days of Fear and Anxiety
  • Serious Times

    Final thoughts of 2025. These truly are serious and dangerous times. The last question I have is, what are we going to do about it in 2026? These/ are serious timesThese/ are not serious peopleThese/ are fraught timesThese/ are not… Continue reading

    Serious Times
  • The Ministry of Lies

    Considering recent events, I suggest revisiting this essay, which I have rewritten multiple times over the past few years and have recently updated to reflect the current situation. Don’t say you weren’t warned. I’m not naïve. The practice of lying… Continue reading

    The Ministry of Lies
  • 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 41 years of life to date in Southern California, and man, it’s… Continue reading

    Sand   Water   Sky
  • Mother Tongue

    I’m so confused/ /Qué bruto.¿Por qué no hablas tu lengua materna? /How rude/ /Why don’t you speak your native language?/ When they ask me why I don’t speak Spanish/Which Spanish do you mean?/The Castillian Iberian Peninsula kind/ /When they’re not… Continue reading

    Mother Tongue
  • 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