Wednesday, December 31, 2014

other patches of the sky


(Here's a 1994 era short story from PIE IN THE SKY #77):























OTHER PATCHES OF THE SKY

She lay on her back, to point a camera at the sky. 
Through the lens, all the clouds in the blue paddled by. 
While she waited for the moment to arrive…
When a bird flew across the glass, she would capture it 
in a photograph. She would take it home inside the camera 
and in the red lights of the darkroom, she would release it 
to the world again. Swirled in the water and chemicals, 
the bird would reemerge slowly. Dripping, becoming real, 
then pinned to dry on a singing rope with other patches 
of the sky.



Tuesday, December 30, 2014

pie in the skies


With time off from work, I've been going through
my old magazine PIE IN THE SKY:
http://pieintheskymagazine.blogspot.com
Some of the stories and poems from
the many issues have reappeared in my
published books.
This next year I plan on publishing
a new book of short stories.
The majority will be seen by you for the
first time, but I've also been polishing up
some of the old PIE classics.







Thursday, December 11, 2014

hope book


I've been enjoying the new Bob Hope
biography by Richard Zoglin.
Way back when my daughter was born
I wrote to Bob and told him the news
and he sent her a signed photo.

stonehouse


I'm just about finished reading
THE ZEN WORKS OF STONEHOUSE
translated by Red Pine. This is such a great
book, I highly recommend. Stonehouse
is my new favorite poet. What a relief to
read on the bus and at work whenever
I get a chance to read.


Tuesday, December 9, 2014

bellingham poems


If you live in Bellingham or own a pegasus
I recommend you go to Village Books for
the reading of this new book Bellingham Poems.
The authors of this great collection, Tim Pilgrim,
Paul Piper and Chuck Luckmann, will be there
this Sunday at 4 PM. Now that I've read
the book, I can't wait to hear them.


Tuesday, November 25, 2014

winter books


These are the books I've been reading lately:


A Drifting Boat, Chinese Zen Poetry edited by J.P Seaton
The Clouds Should Know Me By Now: 
Buddhist Poet Monks of China, translated by Red Pine
Basho: The Complete Haiku, translated by Jane Reichhold
Four Huts: Asian Writings on the Simple Life
translated by Burton Watson
Guide to Capturing a Plum Blossom
translated by Red Pine
Mountain Poems of Stonehouse, translated by Red Pine



Saturday, November 22, 2014

started typesetting new book


Finally started typesetting
my next book for publishing.
And it began its life written
in one of these notebooks.
See April and May posts
from last summer.



Sunday, November 9, 2014

movie time























Watched one of my favorite movies again
MY MAN GODFREY (1936). Might be time
to watch the Thin Man movies again too.

Also showed the kids that famous scene in 
SAFETY LAST (1923) with Harold Lloyd climbing.
I love this picture of him on the Space Needle. 


Saturday, November 8, 2014

october haiku


Inspired by one of my favorite haiku poets
Santoka Taneda, I just wrote a collection of
135 or so haiku during this last month
of October, the time of the railroad earth.
Hopefully you'll get a chance to read them
soon. I need a good Japanese publisher
to take an interest.


Tuesday, November 4, 2014

dream machine


Tuesday, October 28, 2014

october reading

I'm almost done reading an excellent
recent biography of Jack Kerouac
called THE VOICE IS ALL, by
Joyce Johnson.

Thursday, October 9, 2014

insomnia haiku

 

at 3 A.M
the haunted past
living on TV

Saturday, September 20, 2014

SNOW WHITE MOTH


Since this strange summer began
I've been compiling a little book
of new poems and stories.
Here's the line-up so far:


OVER MILKWEED
ED STOREY, THE 2 STORY MAN
PLASTIC JOBS
THE 5 MILE SMILE
A DUCK
A CAT
SNOW WHITE MOTH
MORE THAN ONE BLUE MOON
THE GREAT COMPOSERS
200 ZOOS
THE SPECTACULAR FAILURE OF GASTON LeFLUE, 1891
THE GIRL WHO IS THE RIVER
HUCKLEBERRIES
A SILENT MOVIE
BATTLESHIP
NEW SHOES
SMILE REPAIR
A BAT
A RABBIT
THE PIANO TUNER
A COYOTE
THE BLACKTOP SON
TWO CROWS
THAT FLOWER
CROWS
DOUBLE TAPPED HORN
BLACKBERRIES
PEACH
GRAPEFRUITS
THE OLD PLAYGROUND
RICHARD IS GONE
THE REDDISH DOG
SUMMERTIME IS GONE
THE DARK BOAT
4 BOUQUETS
THE LOCAL AUTHOR



Friday, September 19, 2014

aloha!


15 years at Western Washington University Library
farewell and thanks for the memories


last day at library


Today's my last day at the library.
Will be moving to the Art Department
on Monday. Bon Voyage! Aloha!
This is what a library looked like
in the 1600s. Fun!


Thursday, September 18, 2014

improved



elephant book


Here's another hint to
my forthcoming book
for Good Deed Rain...
hmmm...something to do
with an elephant...



Wednesday, September 17, 2014

the card catalog


With only three days left at this job
I’ve been worried about the fate of
the last card catalog in the library,
the only remaining passenger pigeon,
the lone buffalo. Twice it’s been
condemned to the junk heap by
the ruling powers of the library.
And twice it’s been saved, once
by Claire, and most recently by me.
I’m utterly baffled why a library
wouldn’t want to keep such a part
of their past, but that seems to be
the approach of certain libraries.
I tried all over to find someone here
to care for it and fortunately,
at the last cliff-hanger minute
an office has been found for it!
This beautiful card catalog can
remain in the library where
for many years into the future
people will be glad it’s still here.


One of my first jobs when I started
at my college library in 1984 was
typing the cards and putting them in 
the catalog. Good memories of that.

Friday, September 12, 2014

and how...



Thursday, September 11, 2014

nash metropolitan



In 2012, I self-published a little book called TRAVEL
featuring poems of Ohio. (Most of these were collected
in my new poetry book, PLAYGROUND available 
from Amazon.com.) The TRAVEL book featured 
a photo of an old Nash Metropolitan that was sitting
in a weedy lot near Sandusky, Ohio. It's such a great little
relic of a car, like a Richard Scarry bathtub on wheels. 
This week, Larry Smith sent me a photo of the car
and it's still there, waiting for someone. 



Tuesday, September 9, 2014

2 weeks

This comic is from the October, 1979
School Library Journal. I just gave
my two weeks notice at the library
where I've worked for 15 years.
Moving to the Art Department!


Friday, September 5, 2014

Chandler stories


I'm still rereading Raymond Chandler's short stories.
I love these night desk house detectives who end up 
in deep. Just came across a great description of a dark
drive in the detective's 1925 Marmon touring car:
"I let the Buick lead me away from the straggling 
lights of Las Olindas, through a series of small beach 
towns with little houses built on sandlots close to the 
ocean, and bigger ones built on the slopes of the hills
behind. A window was lit here and there. The tires
sang on the moist concrete and the little amber lights
on the Buick's fenders peeped back at me from the 
curves."






Sunday, August 31, 2014

The Reddish Dog



A hundred or so homeless are outside the window of the lodge.
They sort of form together to get food, but first they must listen
while the mayor or someone tells them a lesson. I look away.
On the ledge above the window are a bunch of Salish crows
or maybe they’re children, it’s hard to tell. Some of them
wear cedar masks. I speak to them in a crow imitation
that comes out, “Hah.” I have the sound right but there’s
no meaning to it. I don’t seem to know that crow language
has words hidden inside the sound. One of the children
up there looks at the others and says, “Hah.” I leave there
and cross a street running like a river to a parking lot
on the other side. There’s an opened-up abandoned car.
Something is moving in a paper bag. At first it’s a cat
but it becomes a reddish dog. It looks so hopeless
and forgotten and hungry. I pet the sad eyed dog
and comfort it and tell it I’ll be right back
as I wake up.