Memoir, Essay, and Poetry Collections

From the Archives...

Memoir Glimpses: A Case for NOT Writing

I met Vivian Fransen at a neighborhood book club meeting. She authored the club’s selection of the month, The Straight Spouse: A Memoir. Her memoir and mine confront the same marital struggle, but from opposite perspectives. My wife left our marriage to explore a heterosexual relationship; her husband left their marriage to explore a homosexual […]

From Dissonance to Consonance:

Together We Sing It’s a beautiful autumn day, but I’m crying in the car. Not because the song is sad, though it touches me. Dan Forrest’s choral pieces always do. I’m hearing this one for the first time, “Entreat Me Not To Leave You.” From unison to dissonance, first the women then the men join […]

A Winter Storm

Winter glares at me through frosted glass, Daring me to leave the comfort of my chair. Frigid winds whoosh loudly through the eaves. Branches scrape and creak against the grey slate roof I close my eyes and rest my head, And listen to the winter wail   Flickering flames cast shadows on the hearth. Leaping in […]

We Can Do This

COVID-19 Series #2 (April 2020) During WWII, my father fought in General Patton’s army on the European front. His three brothers also served overseas and all four boys sent their military paychecks home to their widowed mother and three sisters. The war went on for years and it was inconvenient for them. Their education was […]

Sound

The concert hall reverberates with sound,           Ragged, tuneless, shapeless sound. Cacophony and dissonance and noise,           Joyful, chatty, happy noise. Bejeweled and coiffed, the divas all perform,          Flaunting, strutting flocks perform. On stage the instruments begin to tune,          Joining one by one they tune. A softened light from sconces bathes the hall,          Dimming now, […]

Memoir Glimpses: Why Memoir?

I never meant to write a memoir. My love affair with words long ago turned me into a raconteur. My friends think I’m a good conversationalist. My sisters think I’m opinionated.           “I kissed the Blarney Stone,” I bragged after my first trip to Ireland.           “No kidding.” They said. Throughout my career, my colleagues […]

Inside the Lines

Inside the Lines Covid Series #1 (March 2020) When the bell rang to end the kindergarten day, our teacher lined us up in small groups by neighborhood. A tall, grown up 8th grade boy stepped into our classroom from the hallway and stood beside her. He was wearing a strap across his chest with a […]

In Song

One day A gift emerged And into passion grew, In harmony with forces grand Propelled by rhythm, form and lyric tune, A life and purpose came to be When children’s voices rose And joined as one In song. (Fall 2017)

Poetry

I love to read all styles of poetry out loud. The sound of the words is as important to me as their meaning. Poetry is literary music and most classical forms of poetry speak to the musician in me. The underlying rhythmic pulse and the use of rhythmic sounds in the text provide a forward […]

Essay

To me, a personal essay is just that—“the saying” of my personal thoughts, feelings, discoveries and questions.  When curious thoughts or grand ideas well up in me, I feel the urge to shape them into words. The longer I procrastinate the exploration of these ideas or feelings, the more they distract me. Writing an essay […]