You know that tune
“duh dun da-dum dum-da dah dun?”

It is the sound my door chime makes
Every time a salesperson calls
Or a package gets delivered
Or a neighbor stops by to say hello.

The button sticks.
Once it’s pressed it sings
“duh dun da-dum dum-da dah dun
“duh dun da-dum dum-da dah dun”
On every speaker
In every room of the house
Until someone goes to answer
And unsticks it.

Well, maybe you don’t know the tune.

My dog does, though.
At the first “duh dun”
He races for the stairs, tail flying high,
Ready to greet friend or foe
Where every foe is really just
A friend he hasn’t jumped on yet.

I have thought about posting a sign:
“No Solicitations!”
This is the season for
Driveway pavers, Penny savers,
“mow your lawn, ma’am?”
Peddlers of all shapes and sizes
Press that button
“duh dun da-dum dum-da dah dun”
All day long.

But it would do me no good, you see.
On every speaker,
In every room of the house,
“duh dun da-dum dum-da dah dun”
Reverberates,
Even when there is no one at the door.

My dog doesn’t know the difference
Between the door chime
And National Public Radio’s programming bump.

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As children
they wander,
wondering…
Why is the sky blue?
Why is the grass green?

They value those
older and wiser
who share, even sparingly, their capital.

As students
they plunder
squandering
Why do I need Math?
What use is Poetry?

They value those
bolder, disguised, or
who share their peerage and thus their fates.

As adults
They implore
clamoring
Why am I here?
What is my purpose?

They value those
nobler advisors
who promise sacrifice is self-serving, or worse
who share all dogma is dead.

The treasure chests of substance are dusty.
Ancient lexicons left unopened.
Contentment comes not with having all the answers
But in knowing where to find them.

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We shared a name and heritage
though not a country of birth.
Our childhoods were vastly different
separated as we were
by both a century
and siblings;
You had twice more than I
but mine were all younger.

I am just now finding my way into
that world of writing you knew so well.

Your writing successes came
far earlier than mine:
Publishing feminist reviews at thirteen
and poetry at fourteen.
At that age, I was still composing odes to unicorns
and wondering if I would ever lose my braces.

So many stories, essays, poems,
you had two novels before you were twenty-seven
before you succumbed to another thing
we have, well had, in common.

I read today that as young as
eighteen you contemplated
pills
or
drowning
to escape the tortures of your body and soul.

Me too, younger even.

Your eventual death at your own hand, whether to escape
the deafness,
the sadness,
or
the madness you felt was coming
is a familiar emotional place.

I lived it,
breathed it,
survived it.

The finality of your choice,
inhaling deeply those choking fumes,
reminds me that
only by continuing to live
can I continue to write,
even if no one is reading
yet.

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It’s all fun and games

Civilization was on the brink
of Nuclear War.
In the non-Trivial Pursuit of
Blind Justice,
Diplomacy had failed.

With Spite and Malice,
The Trailer Park Gods
Had demanded a Witch Trial
For the most revered Munchkin,
Othello Bond.

His crime: Continue reading →

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