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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Tuesday, January 23, 2018

why I don’t have


From this week in 2017  (I was 72)

            why I don’t have
I do not like the smell of wet dog
I have no interest in discussing breeds nor feeds
I can imagine picking up warm shit to bag it
I won’t imagine picking up wet shit in the rain
I can’t do dog talk like owners do in the park
I dislike the incessant barking of my absent neighbor’s dog
I have places to put money other than vet bills
I find the concept of leashes disheartening and necessary
I do not want a dog in the house garage or yard
I don’t want to wash food and water bowls nor it
I don’t want it at my feet in my bed or on my chair
I don’t want to watch it drool nor smell its breath
I don’t like dog names
I do not think it funny when they chase squirrels
I do not want to watch it pee on a tree
I don’t want to spay it nor attend it birthing
I am annoyed at the preponderance of doggie toys
I do not want it to pull my sled or bite a leg
I do not like dogs paraded at every civic event in town
I do not want to sit next to a dog on an airplane
I do not want a dog in a grocery or restaurant
I do not want to say Don’t worry he’s friendly
I think more people have died trying to rescue dogs
than have been rescued by dogs

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