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.


Comments Welcome!

Monday, January 22, 2018

Give your coins to the beggar

January 22,1978

Give your coins to the beggar
who greets you as you enter the city
It is not good to arrive with the curse of the outcast
The city does not feed him
so he taxes the visitors
He has remained a stranger here
The spare change that separates you from him
acknowledges your momentary brotherhood
Proceed directly to the place you are welcome
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