One rainy night much like this one, my father once told me, "It's rainin' pitchforks and nigger babies" and I laughed,
because I was a child and didn't know any better.

My mother once let me take a sip of coffee in the sewing room.
The drapes were drawn, and I sat on her lap by the window.
She said it was what big people drank, and so I tried it,

The night, this cool and breezy night,
While in the vast unclouded sky
Stars stand lonely vigils, bright

The sea, the sea which rushes gently to the shore,
Reflects the starry light
Into the coral’s distant roar

The wind, this wind that softly stirs the trees,
Blows soundless ’cross the sand
On its journey o’re the seas

The sand, the sand which softly sinks beneath my feet,

Where do daydreams
go when they retire?
Do they nap upon my feet
waiting until I stumble over them
disguised as a russian spy,
a princess bride,
a heroine of yesterday?

Ageless and timeless
the dreams do not wither
but as of yet remain
chubby-cheeked and cheerful.

Whereas I – jaded and thin and tired –
upon the eve of the end of a dream
find that the accomplishment

It is amazing how our memories are so vivid when triggered by the sight of a forgotten treasure from our past. A long time has passed since I thought of my old bin of blocks. The sight of them jolts my mind; I am overwhelmed. As I pick up the toys strewn across my nephew’s bedroom, I find myself looking back……

For so long my life sang quietly, steadfast and sure
Seasons came and went, suns rose and set
Monday became Sunday and memories all blur
Only delight of the mind proceeded untoward

Now it seems my mind is still
Too full of things to learn yet more
And when I look outside myself I find
The world has changed and changed some more

Where are those blessed childhood days

I’m sitting outside in our driveway on an old beach chair while my four-year-old brother plays in his turtle sandbox. The sun is warm, but the air is decidedly March-like—crisp and cold; the chilly kind, that gets inside you—and I’m sitting here with a hood over my head wondering what on earth I’m doing out here and how Joseph can bear having nothing on his feet.

Today, I took a rather difficult step in my life. I removed the Grand Champions from my closet, and listed them on eBay.