in 1000 Stories

the solar field – 102/1000

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They all stared at the horizon with smiles on their faces, smiles wide as miles.

There used to be corn here, rows and rows of it stretching as far as the eyes could see, and now?

Solar panels.

“They’ll save money! The planet! It’s clean energy!”

But the corn is gone.

While they smile at their solar field, I hike up to the farm stand. Tomatoes and peppers in abundance. Cucumbers, green beans, apples.

A man steps up behind me.

“Beautiful, ain’t it? Look at that bright yellow glow!”

I remember a different bright yellow, and it tasted so sweet.… Read the rest

in 1000 Stories

Just My Luck – 101/1000

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“Get what I asked for?”

“You know I got it, why’d I come if I ain’t got it?”

“Let’s see it.”

I watch them open the bag from the corner of my bike shop while a guy has a gun to my head.

I don’t know how my bad luck had them breaking into my shop, but it’s just my luck.

I see the money, and then he turns to me.

“Alright, what do we do with this one?” he nods toward me.

He throws me a bundle and I feel the gun move away.

“You betta stay quiet, kid.”… Read the rest

in Poems

tulip

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vibrant red tulips in bloom against clear sky

i never liked you.

simple, but also smug.

you stand tall and defiant
believing in your beauty
even when i and others, surely
joke that you’re the weed of roses

no one wants you in a bouquet.

you don’t scream “love” to anyone.

or “thank you”, or “i’m sorry”.

maybe that’s why i never liked you.

you were always more sure
of yourself than I was,
you were never afraid to rise

you grew tall and strong,
keeping your secret beauty
closed inside your bud

and by the time you have opened
yourself to the world
you’ve already been enjoyed… Read the rest

in Poems

watching you sleep

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romantic couple lying on bed while sleeping

when i wake up i just lay there and wait
for you, for you to roll toward me and
stretch out your arm so i can roll into you

and while i’m waiting, yes, sometimes
i watch you sleep, don’t be surprised,
there are songs about doing this
we played them to each other
once upon another time

and i think it’s just wondrous
the way your eyelashes shine
in the morning light, and your face
looks so peaceful and sweet

i think you’d be surprised
to know how much i really love you,
i think you’d be kinder, too

in Poems

when you’re 90

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pexels-photo-1339873.jpeg

the prayer cards they give you at wakes 
pile up near the stack of mail that there’s
no point in opening – you’re 90, quit
paying the bills, quit every damn thing
you don’t want to be doing with the time
you have left. you’ve had enough
worry over money and people and time,
you’ve iced bruises and wiped tears
and shit, thanking god for every 
thankless minute before your celebration.
your heart’s been broken, but you’ve
known all the greatest kinds of love,
and there’s a luckiness there that so
few people have the chance to taste at all.… Read the rest

in Poems

it’s hell, but…

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The Morning War. Heat. Cigarettes. 
You know it’s going to be a bad day
when the Times just gives up and says 
it’s hell, but we’ll keep on reporting
until we’re hanged in the streets like
traitors to our country 

Oh, how I would love to be able
to afford being a traitor to my country.
To ditch work, hold signs, protest,
knock on doors, drive people to polls.

But I am the people we’re trying to help
and it does no one any good to listen
to me whine that we’re a broken society
that might never be … Read the rest

in Blog

Wednesday May 27th, 2026

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Quote of the Day:

“I write only when inspiration strikes. Fortunately it strikes every morning at nine o’clock sharp.” – W. Somerset Maugham

I’ve decided that if I am going to be doing this daily blogging on TK I may as well copy it over to my website, too and start a collection of thoughts that no one really cares about but me. I’m paying for the server space and domains, I might as well start using them to their full ability. 

I feel like the more notes I read here, the more I see how alike we all are, … Read the rest

in Poems

he’s here, don’t worry

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it’s okay to get out of bed early, you don’t have to worry anymore
about missing out on cuddles and special time together, he’s here,
and from what you can see (the photos, the driver’s license, the
clothes in the closet) you should probably believe he will stay.
don’t worry so much about being left alone, not any time soon, and
not any more than any other woman would worry about 
the man she loves walking out the door in the morning and 
not coming back through at night. don’t be scared,
just believe he is here to love you.… Read the rest

in Poems

pay attention

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blue ocean

pay attention, they tell me, pay attention to the things you hear
like the birds singing, or coffee shop chatter, or crying 
and if I pay attention, they tell me, I’ll contain multitudes

multitudes of words drown me like the rising tide and
I can’t keep my head above water so the words are swallowed
and then they lift me buoyantly back to life 

there they go, floating along the waves, the words 
are boats that steer themselves and I just have to 
pay attention as they pass as if writing poetry were that easy

pay attention, they tell me… Read the rest

in Poems

where i come from

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Where I come from the earth was turned and tilled
by my grandfather for years while he grew

apple trees, blueberry bushes, big fat purple grapes
on vines over an arbor, but there were ugly things too –

the bees that attacked when I went for an apple, and
those fat green tomato slugs he’d burn off with a blow torch.

Even then, I thought that was crazy, and I was right. Some
things were not normal, like living with them, and mom, and nana,

four generations under one roof, which gram treated like
a miracle from her Catholic god … Read the rest