I don’t write in a journal everyday, but I have accumulated many entries over the past 50+ years beginning in 1966. Some items evolved into longer works. Among the leftovers little pieces survived. I thought a collection of these with a piece culled from the same date in a past year would make an interesting yearbook. The consistencies and inconsistencies of mind, skipping back and forth across time, provide varied perspectives. It is difficult to remember the context of the past we’ve lived; we also make suppositions about times that predate ourselves.

The few alterations from original drafts were to improve clarity. The worst of my work is not included. There remains enough mediocrity and immaturity to make me feel humble and you feel smart. There are also moments of accidental insight and incidental humor.

Author Stephen Crane referred to his little pieces as pills…apparently they were small and somewhat hard to swallow, but good for you.


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Monday, June 13, 2016

The essence of memory recreates the details


June 13, 2014 (I was 69)

The essence of memory recreates the details
as needed to sustain the story
nuance to ensure the progression of events
will lead to an understanding
of whatever the memory meant
Chips cashed so we can see the money
the pony in the corral at sunset
a reason for the life beneath the tombstone
There is the lost trail in the woods
and there is the bright view from the mountain
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