WhenAllIsSaid.com is a blog I use to have a say of sorts on current events or topics of interest. I’m pretty sure I’m the only reader, so WhistlingInTheWind might be a better name, but it was taken.
Hope is the Thing is a blog I kept during the period when my son John was treated for leukemia. Spoiler alert, everyone lives happily ever after, or at least so far and that is all that we can hope to know.
I have also published a few small books of poetry and prose, which you can find on Amazon. The list includes a 2019 book of poetry, The Funny Thing About a Poem. Sales have been poor and the critics were kind enough to be silent, but the writing was fun.
Here is a sample from The Funny Thing:
From a Rose
The rose placed gracefully by my desk
spoke to me this morning
something of a surprise of course
but nothing compared to what it said
in its breathy alto voice with
just that hint of a French accent
that begs aroused attention
“If it’s not too much” it said and paused
hearing its own voice fill the room
along with the powdery scent of its presence
“If it’s not too much to ask” it began again
and trailed off leaving me wanting more
“It’s just that I’ve heard it all by now
what with Robby Burns and that song about the briar
not to mention all the greeting card lines
from others – but of course not you”
she added trailing off
“I only wanted to say
I am so painfully tired of this thorn in my side
and of all those poems that make a point of it
wanting to make some sense of love and life
which is hard enough even without rhyme
So if you don’t mind would you be so kind
just this once if I ask kindly
please don’t write a poem
about roses and blood and love and loss
and especially don’t write about that thorn”
I smiled in reply and promised