A sudden storm blew our backyard askew,
our oldest daughter called about her broken heart,
an inheritance check came from my dead Father,
we chose to vacation on a beach,
our friend’s spouse died jogging,
our youngest daughter said yes in Belize.
And just today,
stirring songs of worship on Sunday morning,
our grandson’s pet lizard died.
He cried a lot.
We bought a rat.
has published poems in *82 Review, The Literary Nest, Silver Birch Press, Rat’s Ass Review, Bindweed Magazine, Gyroscope Review, Spillwords, VerseWrights, VietNam War Poetry, Ibis Head Review, Spindrift, Former People, and The Write Launch; has non-fiction pieces in Quail Bell and The Write Place at the Write Time; and has a short story in Goddard College’s online magazine Duende.