Refracted Neurons

“I wish he’d quit with the damned shoe already,” Stella complained. “I know,” laughed Maggie, “He’s tried to put it on me three times already.” “Maybe he likes you,” Stella rolled her wheelchair forward a few inches so she could see better. Ash, unaware of their gossip, was trying to flag down another co-ed on her way to class. Stella watched amused, as Ash chased the woman, waving a stiletto heel in the air. “Riiiiight,” Maggie frowned, then sighed, “You really should have come, Stella. I’ve never been to a dance like that before. No one knew who anyone was.” “Yeah, yeah.” Stella usually went to all the dances, but this one had struck a sour note with her. A masquerade ball, with full face masks sounded like fun, unless you were the one person everyone would recognize anyway. Annoyed, she had told Maggie she wasn’t going; even while she was buying a ticket and shopping for a dress. The dress still hung in her closet, its blue sateen shimmering even in the darkness, a ...

It is too late in the season for that amber disk to do anything other than warm me. Past the days of blossoms, of seed, of attrition, you are a blackthorn spring, a sun, spotted with the nip of winter. It is too late for the stretch of shadows, for the buzz of honey   that fills your mouth when you breathe. Here are the days of blossoms, of seed, of regeneration. of you, of unripe blackberries, and the vines of my soul take root. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The weather has been unusual for this time of year. It's as cold as the hand of death reaching out of a grave, but the sky is that piercing blue we usually only get in the summer. None of the plants have been fooled by this, and I certainly haven't been fooled. Just a little precipitation and we'll have snow. Seattle, via airplane For the moment at least, it's got me thinking of summer instead of Christmas.

I want to open my arms wide and spin, until the skyscrapers blur into a halo of i beams, steel, and reinforced concrete; and in this dizziness, the wash of voices and acrid wafts of smoke swirl into streamers, each thread more vivid than that look in your eye, when you close your hand around a spark of light. ------------------------------------- I've finally put all my urban themed poems in one place: City Poems for City People If you are not a city person, these poems are still for you. Ultimately, they are about finding beauty in unexpected places, silence amidst noise, and self standing in a crowd.

You know how gossip works, right?  If you don't, go play a game of Telephone and then come back and talk to me.  Or better yet, talk about me to someone else. I had one of those moments last week when someone said to me, "I've heard you're good at finding people." My response was, "Well, that's not entirely correct.  I'm good at finding dead people."  Here's the thing about dead people: they don't move, they don't marry, and they technically don't divorce.  (Don't think about that last one for too long, it will just make watching The Sound of Music awkward.)  There are also protections around the identities of live people that there aren't around the dead. Obligatory image of a graveyard. So I expected to get no where. I first started using search engines in a time before Google . . . a time when dinosaurs were terraforming the earth and human kind was living underground - Sorry, got a little off topic th...

He was, by the accounts of others, an impractical young man.  “Well, he is the son of a tailor,” they would whisper, as if that somehow accounted for him walking into a cow, a puddle, or, like today, the large glass window in front of the bakery. “He’s probably dreaming up something to top that lace shirt,” laughed the baker, wiping her hands on her apron.  She rapped on the window to get his attention. “I’m sorry, Mrs. Mobley,” he said as he opened the door, “I’ll clean the smear off.” “How is your mother, Midas?” Mrs. Mobley handed him a cloth. Midas just shook his head and took the cloth.  He didn’t want to cry in front of her.   She followed him outside, “Thais has good doctors.”   The walk to Thais was a two-day trek through a heavily wooded area known only as “the forest.”  He rubbed the window forcefully, “I’m going there now.” “Watch out for robbers,” Mrs. Mobley held out her hand for the cloth, “Travel only by day.” ...

You know why I love about Florida?  I love the sensation of being wrapped in a wet, warm beach towel every time I go out the door.  I also kind of like how flat it is here.  It takes virtually no effort to walk from place to place.  I mean, yeah, you're dripping with sweat by the time you get there; but you're not frickin' mountain climbing up Madison.  Madison and James seriously need some fixed ropes installed, but that's besides the point. Today I was walking to an outlet mall, because it was only 2.6 miles away.  That's like a hop, skip, and a jump.  Anyway, I was almost there, dying to sit down in the shade and drink something cool, when I stumbled on the most unlikely place. Well, hello there. I saw signs along the way that said "Queen Mary Shrine," but it wasn't until I was standing in front of a huge sign that said "Mary, Queen of the Universe Shrine," that it struck me.  This wasn't some oddly named hotel, this was...

It was an office, not unlike any of the other offices around the city. There were windows, visible to the lucky few cubes on the ends of the rows. Then there was Vera's cube, situated next to the row of manager's offices. Today she was lucky, someone had left their door open and precious slant of sunlight escaped, warming her back and washing out half of her computer screen. "I never realized your hair was red," Tracy dumped a large stack of paper on her desk, "The florescent lights make everything look so soupy." "What is that?" she pointed at the stack of paper. Tracy only offered compliments when he wanted a favor. "I need this entered," he smiled, a dimple appearing in his cheek. "You have a secretary," Vera waved a freckled hand to her left, "Ask him." "He's sick," Tracy gave her puppy-dog eyes, batting his long dark eyelashes. Vera sighed and fought back a smile. Tracy was such a s...