The winds are wretched tonight Howling and whining and moaning Like a spirit lost from her delight Whirling and turning and longing For a...

Easter light From a cheating sun Falls on gray buildings And faded white fences. Silence slips around Deserted street corners Following...

Pale yellow, faded blue Choleric and dull grey, No voices or sounds No lights at night No doors slamming No pictures on walls, Only...

Two times I saw a bald eagle Soar across the Pine River Wings spread wide Lifting higher and higher White tail reflecting The golden...

From dark green heat Of the mesquite When it’s wetted with Monsoon rains Comes a fragrance sweet A summer treat Clouds crowd the sky with...

The sun was once high in the sky today Though the clouds tried to hide it from view. Now it has gone far beyond the earth But left behind...

Late evenings at the community mental health center meant darkened halls due to poor lighting, and a skeleton crew to handle after-hours’...

"I get tired of you lying on the couch all day, I want you to go outside and move around now and get some sunshine," Emma said. "It's not...

Daddy had two 22-rifles left over from the days when they seemed necessary and later for bird hunting. Eventually he sold one and the...

By Chuck Hardisty I was cleaning/moving old files to upgrade to a new laptop and found this photo of Great Granddad Preuit, 5 generations...

“The Bookends.” That’s what Benny called us, him and me, “The Bookends.” “Do you know why that is?”, he asked one fine day. I told him...

(For Jeri) Shadows and sunshine on fences Appear all around As I ramble down the road. Ripples of chill autumn winds Dance in the air...

(This was written before I knew other people were interested in this writing venue.) Sitting at an Anza Trail Head near the Santa Cruz...

Last night at dinner I was listening to a couple talking about how their parents retired early and now, 20 years later they don’t ‘do...

I grew up in quiet times in a quiet house. We had only a few machines: a small am radio, a small refrigerator, a telephone that rarely...

“A violin is fancy, a fiddle is folksy.” “What are you doing?”, I asked my brother, Jerry when he came out of our parents’ bedroom...

It was an early morning of an already difficult day and I was headed to the gas station after taking plastics, cardboards and cans for...

Inside the house Stale, dull and still. No sounds, no smells. Outside the stars flickered, Small sparks in the sky. The prevailing west...

There’s a big fat black bug On my back porch bed. What’s he doing there I wonder all snuggled up ready for slumber.