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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Sunday, April 9, 2017

The place I lived was less significant


April 9, 2009  (I was 64)

The place I lived was less significant
than those in books and movies
The surrounding forest was not Sherwood
The mines held iron not gold or diamonds
Lake sand beaches were narrow the water cold
no tropical palms nor pounding surf
The crops were corn and potatoes
The shops were small the merchandise modest
The library had stereoscopic pictures that proved history
was three dimensional and black and white
The movie theater had a single aisle
but it became a yellow brick road
A single path in the church but no wizard there
The post office smelled of lost correspondence
Posters Wanted crooks for city crimes
None of the trains carried passengers
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