Ghost Buffalo

Curiosity is the purest form of insubordination.    - Nabakov * Raising a teeny tiny helpless snowshoe kitten has rendered me a drooling, cooing, mindless thing this winter.  I am under the influence of Cuteness. We are surrounded by it. We sleep with Cuteness, dream in Cuteness, speak of Cuteness. Any unsuspecting person who walks through the door is reduced to Cuteness mush. I notice I can't read much these days.   The creature of Cute always intervenes. I notice I don't eat much either. And when I leave the house, I indulge in ridiculously long, purry goodbyes. Beauty, yes.  Beauty and Truth, yes, yes, yes.    Beauty, Camus tells us, is unbearable; it drives us to despair, offering us the mere glimpse of eternity.   I can hang my hat on that.   But Cuteness ? Kitsch, Kundera tells us, is the absolute denial of s...

In Praise of Idioms: Idioms and Words that Remain

Dear Friends, Here lie the dreams we put to rest. And there, the things we meant to say. Further on, those bits of faith. Mindless things, they bore no pain and easily went to their graves. It's we who are not quite the same. (With thanks to the editors at The   Hudson Review, who not only nominated this poem for a Pushcart, but also  have selected it for their New Year's card this year). 

A new poem recently published: Kin It's official.  (Always a finalist): Rattle Announcement