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Lord Dunsany Book Review

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Issue 11 of THE GREEN BOOK is now available and includes my review of Lord Dunsany's THE GHOST IN THE CORNER AND OTHER STORIES (edited by S.T. Joshi and Martin Andersson; Hippocampus Press).  Also appearing in this issue are articles by Martin Andersson, Darrell Schweitzer, Mike Carey, and others.  Click here to order a copy.

Tempering the World's Chaos

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Snow rests heavy upon the dim blue landscape, tracing and draping myriad outlines. Branches droop in repose as juncos dash through wild-haired shrubs. The waking mind is coaxed into a slow wandering — silence the treasured vehicle. The serenity placates, perhaps medicates. We inhale what we can of it, for morning quickly smothers the predawn hour. Soon it will heave jewels of sunlight across the white blanket, shrinking blue shadows like summer puddles. Snow drips and falls to the warming wet earth. We begin to stir within the transition, lured by its guiding hand. Soon our thoughts will speed, looping, toward the waking day. Routine will take hold. But before we step too far into the busyness, let us sit, selfishly, with one more cherished thought of a loved one, near or somewhere far; or the soft gray juncos, chasing and chattering like lovers' hearts; or a path along a bookshelf, all those soul-building stories and poems; or something else, anything else, to help temper the wor

"In the pitch black of the future..."

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In the pitch black of the future there materialized a pair of eyes — small, childlike eyes void of the slightest hint of judgment. And they didn't look at me so much as past me, focusing on the present state of things and the goings-on all around. Suddenly I was aware I'd failed to do my best, like so many others in our time (yes, there is progress, but that is not to be dwelled upon when there is so much more at stake). And then those eyes, grown familiar, began to glisten and harden and fade into the lightless beyond. And I was left in silence. Just a dream? My imagination? It doesn't matter. What matters is the messenger. Because the eyes were those of my son. And they were the eyes of every child alive and every child to come. And if I'm to truly realize the potential of my humanity, to let rise the best version of myself, then I must apply the change that occurred in me at the moment those eyes departed. Because it wasn't just disappointment that I saw

At Every Level

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(From the book HEARTVINES )

"Beyond Earth's blue veil..."

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Photo by Shanin Abreu (From the book HEARTVINES )

Winter Wren

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Such a little pop, a flare of dinosaur. Warmly brown. Curious, but no line-crosser; a blender-in. Life in small, tight spaces, condensed heavens (or eternal ones, if the fairies have their say). But back to wrens, to the feathered belly-laughs of children, bouncing and hide-and-seeking in rocky, mossy, fallen-log regions of the shadowy wood. Quiet places. Places passed over, underappreciated. Nearly forgotten if not for the presence and eternal song of the Winter Wren. Winter Wren by Scott Somershoe (From the book HEARTVINES )

Prothonotary Warbler at Dawn

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Up from the riverbank, through the low leaves, a tiny sun rises, reflected in drops of morning dew. Prothonotary Warbler by Julie Long (From the book HEARTVINES )

"Mr. Red-winged Blackbird..."

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Red-winged Blackbird by Brendon Lake (From the book HEARTVINES )

In the Dawn

If I’m paying attention at all there is beauty in the dawn, a rising whisper that reaches out and invites me in. Today I’ve become quite aware of it, the beauty evident in the robin singing proudly of his fledglings; in the long branches of pine, breeze-                                                        bouncing as if playing piano; in the blue sky exhaling its sunrise colors... I could go on, but one likes to get back to such dawns before they’re gone. Wait, what is that? Hold a second...  The dawn has come up to the window. Yes, in color and song it is saying Into me  all of you are welcome to take part. (From the book HEARTVINES )

"End of winter..."

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 Minnow drawing by Kelly Sturner (From the book HEARTVINES )

Common Yellowthroat at Dusk

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Sunlight flows out like a tide... A blade of prairie grass arcs             to                         earth beneath a black-and-yellow shape. Witchity, witchity, witchity... Tiny bandit skulks through day’s ending light. (From the book HEARTVINES ) Common Yellowthroat by Graham Gerdeman

"Butterfly must now land..."

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Butterfly artwork by Susan Sturner (From the book HEARTVINES )

10 LOVE POEMS (2008)

CONTENTS About Love Fresh Morning I Love You Holding Hands (a simple pleasure) A Holiday for the Heart When I Am Loved By You Morning Rain These Things Love and Words Could You Stay the Night, Forever?

KAIROS (2004; poetry)

CONTENTS N ote: several of these poems are not included in the eBook version. Poetaster Before the Storm Wet the Earth Twelve and 12 Alone Existence of You, The About Love A Holiday for the Heart When I am Loved by You I Love You Fresh Morning subtlety My Love, My Dream (I sometimes watch) Words Are All I Have Since You Went Away Below Zero Imperfection Walking Into Yesterday, Tonight Spring Trees Outstanding Kiss Me Hello Her Day A Tree Dryad Weeping on a Fallen Tree Damsel Fly! A Poem to My Dead Love My Clearest Day Swimming Towards the Surface Not So Bad Good Night Sunset Somewhere Killing a Man on a Bridge for Pleasure Submission End, the Bleak Hour, The Me? Beer Can Hands Glass Hope Impatient, The A Lament for Sylvia Symptoms of My Envy (are clear), The Identity Hubristic Matricide Look at a Photograph Hawk, The Ivory, Bills, and Woodpeckers Little Fawn Little Girl Demon Hands Upon Her Skin White Truth Subliminal Antihero Hero *******7 New Stars Meteor Showers (I'm not crazy)

WILDERNESS & LOVE (2016)

CONTENTS Catbird, The "...and there was a connection to the earth..." Butterfly Falling Apart "Spring migration..." Leaving the Old Us Neutral Ground "From my point of view..." "Together/in the Pacific Northwest..." Shimmer "I walk past laughing lovers..." "It isn't her fault…" "All the right words..." Mostly A Climbing Rose in a Ruin A Bit of the Mystery Come "Song Sparrow sings and sings..." "A toad trilling..." Intimate Universes Dawn Chorus Gold 'n' Blue Sunrise American and the Armenian, The Winterbloom White Heart Winter from Below Though Unseen, Her Soul Is Lucid "I'm slipping from my skin..." Phoenixes

SELECTED POEMS 2004-2007 (2008)

CONTENTS Eidolon Whispers In Spite of Candlelight Can You Dig It, Girl? Comfort Zone Pulse Arachnophobia Cured! Moonshadow Promise of an Eagle, to a Friend Pace of Waiting, The Last Words Broken Hearts in Paris Props at My Funeral, The Emma's Favorite Thing to Look At My Morning Sickness 14 April 2005 Stopwatch These Things Could You Stay the Night, Forever? Psalm of My Own Morning Rain Seasonally Home

HEARTVINES (2019)

CONTENTS SPRING "Daffodils..." "Mr. Red-winged Blackbird..." Brown-shaded Gray Ca'erpiwah, The Winter Wren Foothills Parkway SUMMER "All our indoor plugs and wires..." In the Dawn At Every Level "One time, at a red light..." Prothonotary Warbler at Dawn Common Yellowthroat at Dusk A Tree "Butterfly must now land..." AUTUMN "Beyond Earth's blue veil..." A Moment in the Forest Hermit Thrush All the Good of the World Ruffed Grouse Brown Creeper WINTER "Some memories are scars..." "I want to be..." "In the pitch black of the future..." Starling Tempering the World's Chaos "End of winter..."