A Poem About Good Choices — How many times in my life have I not listened to my heart? I have let conflicting impulses derail my plans from the start Second-guessing with its unfortunate comfortable wavering If on a journey, or in a tourney, I still need a gurney, quavering Standing at the crossroads, uncertain of…

Poem — An ode to university — These college days of open books of learned looks into the past We strive to catch the eternal truth Perhaps to change the cast of time Our net we pull from the starboard side Then toss to port to snatch the tide To ride the wave of roaring mist Which…

Boris Kaminsky and a revelation — Boris Kaminsky had spent forty years working in the coal mines of West Virginia and when he retired at sixty-five in October of 1999 and moved to Phillipsburg, he never could have imagined a different life would open for him like a crack in a surface rock in front of…

Ambrosia De Klerk and A Treehouse — Almost no one who interacted with me every day, especially those at the Spellman School had any clue of the breadth and depth of my abilities. My father, who since I returned home was the closest to me in proximity could only vaguely recognize some of the signposts that I…

Edison McKinley, Mark Hanson, Michael Bouvier and OMEGA — It had been over two years since Mark Hanson had seen his friend Michael Bouvier and he was settling into his new life as a cabinet maker and carpenter, having just completed his portion of Edward Magnolia’s model railroad display focusing on the major symbols of Seattle. …

Stephanie Lancaster struggles with an uncertain future — Stephanie was sitting in the hospital waiting room, holding the worn photograph of Liam in her left hand, because she was left-handed, contemplating everything that had happened in the last ten years and eleven months since she had last seen Liam. She had often comforted herself in those quiet moments…

Julie Jamison and the Bartholomews come into closer proximity — “Dad, we’re here.” Jack shook his father as he stopped the car. He parked it in an open space beside Julie’s red sedan. “The Ambassador Hotel,” he told his father who was slowly waking, stretching his arms in the air. “What time is it?” “Three fifteen AM,” Jack answered, “and…

Julie and Jim listen together to Nigel’s final cassette — Julie opened the door for Jim, and he struggled to put the cane in the back seat. For a moment she remembered Nigel at the homeless shelter, holding his wooden cane to support himself as he served food in the cafeteria. A little over a year had passed and it…

Walter and Jack Bartholomew on their way to Hadleyburg VA — Jack was driving when he and his father crossed the border into Virginia. The tall Appalachian Mountains obscured the dim moonlight overhead. It was nearly midnight and they had three to four more hours of driving before they would reach Hadleyburg. He was sleepy, dozing off momentarily. He allowed the…