Perfectionism
Smelling of Sex, of Summer, of Love
The Loudest Voices Don’t Speak for Me
What Are You Working On?
The Sadness and the Quietness
the sadness
that is people
the sadness of wanting to die
but being compelled to live
On Going Through Family Papers During the Pandemic
Everyone seems so very fragile,
as fragile as the books falling apart
from glue that has dried to cracking,
tears in the dust jackets,
the extra thin World War II era paper
The Child Screams Next Door
The child screams next door.
What are they doing to that child?
I’m happy staying at home alone but …
I miss walking over to a neighborhood bar and the bartender recognizes me because I am a regular and have been there lots of times before and they’re happy to see me and we chat a little and I get a drink because sometimes it’s fun to get a drink and talk and laugh…
The Heaviness and Lightness of Old Age
Not Within the Realm of Reasonable Expectations
Going Down the Prepper Rabbit Hole
I wasn't worried about running out of Clorox wipes until I saw they’re prioritized for hospitals on Amazon and totally out of stock at Walgreens, Target, Walmart, Staples, etc.
My sister often says, “Our family is not surviving the zombie apocalypse.”
The Hard Way
Highlights from My Love Life
My first high school steady
was a computer geek.
I read sci-fi novels
and corrected his college essay.
We tried bondage and anal.
I'm lucky his interest in me
wasn't confined to the cranial.
crazy trails to you
Cabin Fever Blues
Staying inside
Itchy skin
Don't feel like watching the news
Don't feel like love
More trouble than it's worth
Haven't shaved my legs in a month
Cause really who gives a fuck
S&M Santa Claus
I Don't Wanna Be Right
If loving you is wrong…
I’m dirty in a way no shower can ever wash off
Reflections on My Year as a Windy City Empire Duchess
So I became Empress Kate’s Duchess for Empire 15 of the Imperial City Court of the Prairie State Empire, or Windy City Empire for short.
My Best Drinking Buddies Have Joined AA
My best drinking buddies have joined AA,
given up the bottle, sobered up, gotten on the wagon
without falling off.
searching for something better, searching for somewhere to belong
They run away to escape a life in which it was beaten into them that they were nothing, less than nothing, and then they are taken in by the streets, where the last of their humanity is ripped from them.
...that, as we age, good footwear is more important than a girlfriend.