Questing

Consider the questing
wood tick,
dancing upright on a
blade of grass.
Off the beaten path,
a hitchhiker
on an empty roadway,
it trusts in
the lure of a shortcut.
Destination be
damned, when a ride
does appear,
with a leap of faith
this nymph
becomes a stowaway.
There’s a reason
why there are roads
less taken.
Trespassers beware,
this tick shares
even as it withdraws.

Sharing The Wealth

This season
after the timely gift of
needed rain
the encouragement from
afternoons
opulent with sunshine
moonlit nights
that tempered the heat
the plants
and seeds generously
responding
why do I still begrudge
the petty
theft by opportunistic
raccoons who
indulge in this garden’s
beneficence
when well aware that
a green thumb
had nothing to do with
its abundance

At A Certain Age

Sleep at a certain age
does not obliterate, it manufactures.
Gone is a healing absence
once taken for granted as our due.
With a laundry basket of
tangled memories, fears and regrets,
dreams go into overdrive.
One wakes tired from ironing the past.
With a captive audience,
sleep’s busy storytelling intrigues,
ripe for interpretation.
But half-conscious, at a certain age,
how rarely it satisfies.

Chased Awake

Chased awake
by troublesome thoughts
after a demon
has whispered in your ear
how ominous
the dark seems at 3 a.m.

But gradually
anticipating the reveal of
dawn’s tablet
no longer a heavy weight
an abashed
silence becomes permeable

On cue
conjuring the morning light
a cardinal
dismisses the demon’s words
as nonsense
sending you back to sleep

King Richard : Nixon And Watergate: An American Tragedy / Michael Dobbs

King Richard’s first chapter opens on the day of Richard Nixon’s second inauguration in 1973.  Having soundly defeated George McGovern in the 1972 election, the next four years of his presidency are presenting him with the opportunity to build a lasting legacy.  His first order of business is to bring the troops home from Vietnam.  But there is another topic of discussion on his agenda as he begins his second term in office.  It centers on the burglary of the Democratic Party headquarters at the Watergate Hotel the year before.  In 100 days’ time, the investigation of that crime would uncover a trail leading back to Nixon himself.

Burrowing into the vast treasure trove of tape recordings from Nixon’s White House, Michael Dobbs offers a vivid retelling of the events taking place inside the West Wing as the President and his staff frantically try to close down the Watergate investigation and keep the individuals charged with the crime quiet by paying them hush money.  While there have been a plethora of books written on this topic, what makes King Richard a fascinating read is the fresh perspective that the actual conversations captured on tape bring.  The reader becomes a fly on the wall, privy to the President’s thoughts and actions during this 100 day period.

Dobbs does not bother to offer editorial content on the events presented in this book.  Rather, he lets the words and deeds of the participants speak for themselves.  King Richard reads like a classical tragedy, presenting a story of ambition and hubris, the protagonist betrayed in the end by his own actions.

Fight Night / Miriam Toews

In Fight Night, Miriam Toews recreates a multigenerational family history.  The novel’s narrator is Swiv, a precocious nine year old determined to help her mother deliver a baby, while at the same time trying to keep her grandmother alive to witness the new addition to the family.  Her mother, Mooshie, is facing this birth despite the absence of the child’s father.  The star of the novel, though, is the grandmother, Elvira.  Despite numerous health issues, she is determined to enjoy life’s diminishing returns to the fullest.  Her humorous defiance against age’s restrictions charms everyone she encounters.

Swiv’s dark family history is peppered throughout the story, but it shows how the surviving members overcame grief to prosper nonetheless. Elvira is an example of joyous persistence.  In reviews, Fight Night is presented as a tragicomedy.  While there is indeed tragedy woven into the plot, Elvira prevails as a character larger than life, laughing in the face of death, intent on enjoying every last moment given her.

Toews is a master of dialogue, and Swiv’s observations of her grandmother and mother, as well as of the other characters encountered throughout, make for delightful read that celebrates life, even when the odds are stacked against it.  Elvira is a force to be reckoned with, ever defiant of death while not being afraid of welcoming it.  Fight Night presents a family history that gifts Swiv with the ability to fight and survive going into the future, finding joy in her grandmother’s full life, as defiant to the end, she passes down a rich legacy.

Indulging In Invisibility

To fit in
I too pull my phone from
my pocket
study its screen
and nod in agreement
as I pretend
to be fascinated
by a chain of texts that
aren’t there
But in airport mode
all I’m doing
is confirming the time
and today’s date
With location disabled
I’m content
to be sharing my data
with no one
as the rest of the people
in this line
frantically scroll or reply
At seventy
I savor how long it takes
for a minute to
leisurely tick to the next
A fresh decade
untracked but still infinite