Retired Navy after 23 years. I retired at the age of 40 years old. I've been out longer than I was in. All of the ships I served on have been made into razor blades. I had fun and I lived my life the best I could. Most of my shipmates are gone and I try to stay in touch with the remainder. It continues. Substance abuse counselor, builder of wooden boats, furniture maker, prison non-violence workshop facilitator, life observer, activist, reader, writer, geriatric subject of interest, generous tipper. I stay involved.
The sweetest flesh Falls to earth, The crows of distrust tear at the Corpse, Spilling sweet scented petals, The bones of a fairy-tale dream lie Scattered and bleached under the glare of Real. Women, mothers and sisters, weep for the dead, In truth, for themselves, Men, with no clue, watch in solemn ignorance incapable of … More Death of Love
I have truly enjoyed my time on this wordpress experiment, experience. Those who chose to comment deserve my gratitude and appreciation for what few words you shared. I wish I could have been more technically adept so I would have presented and attended more thoughtfully. I am retiring from ‘wordpress’. My writing will continue and … More Farewell, goodbye, have a good life.
Yesterday, shortly after 6 P.M., son Scot MacKenzie Goodwin passed onto a different place. Scot was a victim of early onset Alzheimer’s Disease. He has been moving from hospital to medical facility to institution for the past year as he lost ground in his struggle to retain whatever level of cognition he could. It has … More Scot MacKenzie Goodwin
ROADSIDE CROSSES New Mexico sanctions the placement of crosses along public highways. The crosses locate the points on earth where loved ones have left us; mostly as the result of traffic accidents. The crosses are typically decorated with plastic flowers and other memorabilia. Crosses placed for children have stuffed toys. The sites marking the placements … More From Seven Years Ago
LOOKING INTO CANYONS I’ve looked up at walls of ocean more than a hundred feet high rushing toward shores hundreds of miles away. I, lying with my back pressed against the steel of my protection, eyes wide and mouth shouting, Holy shit! Tons of ocean racing under storm and wind and dark, over and past … More Looking Into Canyons
Originally posted on Mother & Son book review:
Caedmon by Denise Levertov All others talked as if talk were a dance. Clodhopper I, with clumsy feet would break the gliding ring. Early I learned to hunch myself close by the door: then when the talk began I’d wipe my mouth and wend unnoticed back to…
EARWORM I’ve been listening to the first three or four lines of Brenda Lee singing “I’m Sorry” for near three hours this morning. The voice-in-my-head is getting sweeter but I’m tired of it. If I had my druthers, I’d prefer Vikki Carr singing “It Must Be Him!” or maybe Barbra Streisand singing anything at all. … More Earworm
SOLACE “Grace is solace on horseback”, This opening line to a poem by A friend of a friend with whom I dearly want to be a friend. Grace and Solace, Words which are familiar, But I often look up words to ingest them so they nourish me. These words are simple and Both have a … More Solace
I don’t want to lose any more children. I don’t have any control of this. I lost Mark a year ago and now Scot is diagnosed with early onset Alzheimers. The doctors informed his wife that he has less than six months left. Loss. Loss and grief are so damned hard. Life holds so much… … More Stuff happens: It is what it is and that is what we call life.
My friend-in-writing, Amber-Nicole writes beautifully!
Playing Fair and Being Kind 