Living in the Down Below

Do Not Let Go

Once a cookie-stealing imp
with hesitant smile and sad eyes,
ears bigger than his head,

Three Haiku

Your job, convenience;
stories and sirens not yours -
so far, our luck holds.

Silencing the 25

All the days seem dark and grey down here in the Ironbound, but the 25 is loud and boisterous as always when it is filled with…

gaunt

there are two of them,
devouring, ravenous. Instinct
reaching out, taking hold of
everything
in their slender hands; fierce minds reduced to
an…

Six Bullets, Two Blocks Down

The young man is
bleeding out
on frozen pavement.
Surrounded by lights,
strangers,
his life seeps,
fading,
as…

Not today

Encircling the playground,
the yellow crime scene tape flutters in the wind
as the police crawl all over with their baggies and cameras
and…

Beauty

(January 2006, 38° F)

Awaiting Evaluation

A haibun

Half-boy, half-man, he drowns in the speckled blue hospital gown and watches the other…

Escaping the System

I worked with a guy once, bold and brassy and loud and always on edge, always one step from detonation. He was a really…