What if I could overcome debilitating bugaboos and bust forty’s balls? Vanquish the to do list, purge my doughy paunch (literal and figurative), de-quarantine the drafts, indulge my latent doodler, transform the next decade into a parade of firsts and at lasts… What if? (… from Midlife Crisis Averted Postponed. 40x41: Midlife Crisis Postponed) ...
Antennae Beetle
Spied a spy. Epic antennae, no? The better to grok the wonders of the world. An iPhone photo simplified, B&W-ified, then stripped of detail, of reality... A vestige. As if caught wandering across an early photocopier? ...
Old & Young
"Forty is the old age of youth; fifty the youth of old age." ~ Victor Hugo ...
On Turning Forty
“This is it,” my father sighed when he turned forty. “This is it,” he repeated throughout the next decade. I wondered if this it was hardwired, if it was in my DNA. I decided it wasn’t. No it for me. Fast track the adventure. (Source: "On Turning Forty", 40x41: Midlife Crisis Postponed) [Excerpted from a four-part introspective poem that fluctuates between prosaic and caustic, ...
Golden Ginkgo
The canopied ginkgo outside my study stretches skyward, summoning squirrels into its celestial labyrinth. In winter the skeletal colossus too partially shelters the bird feeders' birds from hungry red-tailed hawks who spy, plunge, and picnic in, between, and beneath the tree's appendages. Winter, spring, summer, and fall the ginkgo hosts flitting choirs of transient songbirds, armadas of arboreal ...
Brussels Sprouts
As a boy I disliked Brussels sprouts. Or I thought I did. The smell, at least, and the texture when they were boiled. But that changed over the last four decades. An acquired taste? Evolving taste buds? Exposure to new recipes. Raw, shredded Brussels sprout "cole slaw" with freshly squeezed lime juice and olive oil. Or slow roasted after tossing with olive oil, salt and pepper, then served with ...