The last visitor before I sleep is always the old priest puffing up the stairs to my door, a wine cask under each arm, a loaf of pumpernickel in his teet…

Strapped to his bed in the nursing home, he tells every nurse who comes in and tightens his straps

If you write with a quill, ballpoint pen or typewriter, you’re a lucky soul. But if you use a computer and write far better than

In 1920, my father, 16, was a guest of the British government. He was a prisoner of their forces occupying Ireland at the time, a group called the Black and Tans. One day he and seven o...

Spread 'Em for Anyone Edna had always had trouble with men. It started in high school when Ed… big for her age, hosted the soccer… one by one, provided they won.

This Monarch butterfly dances from petal to petal red, yellow and orange sits for a while on each and then

I have a friend, old and retired, who keeps busy helping the poor. Let’s call him Ted because he wants to remain anonymous. Some of his ideas, he says, wouldn’t make many of his neighbo...

Far from the city way out in the country a hot afternoon in high summer as we drive down a bumpy road bouncing one mail box past

Before dawn Bill stoops under crimson leaves of the low-hanging Japanese Maple

Fred’s a reasonable man something he takes pride in. Just the other night before he threw a dish against the wall while

On their 50th anniversary Sammy gave Dolly a necklace and told his darling wife that if they lived long enough one of them would wake

It’s Rocky’s Diner but it’s Brenda’s counter, been that way for 10 years. Brenda has her regulars who want the Special of the Day.

Fifty years ago Jane got on a plane and flew away without saying good-bye. Her parents took her, I know.

In your mind you hear words snarling all day long but no poem arrives. The words are locked

Harvey has a special room in the basement that’s always lock… He keeps a safe there, some antiqu… and family memorabilia he fears midnight thieves might steal.