Category Archives: memory
Bastards of Pain
So, what do you do when the bastards of pain camp on your front porch? Do you politely ask them to leave? Or do you wade into them with rage and a machete? Usually, with pain—physical, emotional, whatever—the bastards like … Continue reading
Reminders in Early July
(The Fourth is a grand holiday. It’s my sister’s birthday. We live in a truly great country where we are mostly safe and enjoy opportunities rare in the big picture. Most often, I am proud to be American. But… –jrs) … Continue reading
Table Circle
Laughter in the house tonight: small voices grow large spilling down the race of conversation around the table with its rattling dice cup. All support every roll. Applause abounds. Life will roll on, a collection of memories: sweet, bitter, sour, … Continue reading
Peace and Fire
We kissed: lips groping without knowing, hands benign and trembling, timid and still. You were a gift I did not understand. I had no way to accept the strange dichotomy of peace and fire. When I moved away to California … Continue reading
Big Rocks — Little Rocks
“Time to make little rocks out of big rocks.” Work is work. I remember: cold clouds slung low, soaking all of us, men and machines thundering through my earplugs and muffs as a thousand drummers play with wild abandon. I … Continue reading
So Far, So Good
On this day most of a lifetime ago we stood up before family, blood-tied with freely chosen, and declared that we would live together loving each other for the rest of our lives. So far, so good. (top: otter … Continue reading
Nightmare in Denim
(Note: this came from a nightmare I had when I was small, in Buffalo, NY. Why I still remember it as vividly as I do remains a mystery.–jrs) I cowered in my sleep unable to turn away, unable to awaken to … Continue reading
Haiku–Recognition
Recognition flies in the face of memory; the blackbird alights. (top: bigthink.com; blackbird: allaboutbirds.org)
A Glimpse of the Deeper
Would I know your face now? I like to think I would, but memory is an often tricky thing; I’ve known it to add and to subtract. What I know as true may not be; where I’ve been may not … Continue reading
Haiku–Live Music
Music from the heart embraces Anacortes; salty wings we are. (My great good friend Ernie Theriot and me remembering the Gris-Gris Band.)



