Welcome to my web home!

Poetry. Visual Art. Random thoughts.

Barkeep’s Morning

As night fizzles into dawn,
the tavern’s stucco skin
seems to froth with amber light.
 
The barkeep squats to his coolers
to skate bottle after bottle
onto metal dew-coated shelves.
 
The clink and jangle of his work
ornament the air as if he’s stirring
petals of sea glass.
 
Coins stutter onto the scarred oak counter
as his wife shuffles and stacks them
into drifting towers of silver.
 
His daughter steeps the stiff fronds
of her dry mop in a bucket of soapy water.
Suds splash its tin shore.

what editors say ...

You have a lovely, clear voice that rings true for the reader.

I love this poem. My girlfriend and I will only wear black when we eat out.

-- Michelle Hartman, Editor of Red River Review

Your poems show a side of and take an angle on Ritual that is unique among our submissions, and we think they would be an excellent addition to the Issue.

-- Troy Payne, Editor of Lantern Journal

These concrete details are lovely; their settings stronger still. Your understanding of how to move a piece forward, how to give it motion, is a true strength.

-- Judge from Sustainable Arts Foundation

Thanks for sending us your work, and we’ll be very pleased to include it in one of our poetry issues.    I’m thrilled to be able to include your work.

-- Dr. Christopher Todd Anderson, Guest Poetry Editor, The Midwest Quarterly

My Studio

Here is the entrance to my studio where sales of my artwork raised nearly $1,000 for the Milwaukee Public Library in May 2018.

This is where I write and stitch and sometimes nap.

---

what readers say ...

Lyrical and sensitive …

-- Jayshree M. Tripathi

I really enjoyed this uplifting poem which celebrates the power of the perfect shoe.

-- Pamela Newham

I love this, and I really relate to the torn feelings you so eloquently shared.

-- Stephanie Gagos

What I've Been thinking about...

How when I need a root canal treatment, I dream about volcanoes. See the blog section for more random thoughts...