Words That Cleanse

It is early November, and autumn’s leaves blanket the ground. Each year, our elm canopy releases individual leaves to arc, spiral, or tumble down erratic paths onto the sidewalk, patio, and driveway behind the house. But this year, in October, the leaves, the fence,...

A Mere Breath

The cough released in a cry introduces us to the world over whose persistence our days will waft and eddy. A decade and a half later, we exhale and our vocalizations crack. At an altar, a sigh says “I do.” Anxious, we hyperventilate; shocked, we gasp; frustrated, we...

The Greater Distraction

From anywhere but on it, a bicycle seems a near silent mode of transportation, exercise, and amusement. But anyone with a bike is familiar either with the largely metallic cacophony of scrapes, grinds, creaks, whines, and groans which accompany a ride, or the grease,...

The Light That Shines

I am accustomed to squint on eastward morning drives, but today the sun’s glare is diffused by a few stratus clouds. I can still track its otherwise invisible climb, though, as it illuminates the clouds’ crystals of ice in a blindingly garish display of refraction....

We Belong Now

I wonder if Saturn will continue to evade me when I rise from bed just as Friday becomes Saturday. Changing my pajamas for outdoor clothes, I venture to the driveway where, weather permitting, I will set up my scope and camera. As I squeak open the gate, an uncollared...