April Fool’s

April Fool's Day (a Short Essay) When I was a kid, my folks always played the same April Fool's joke on me. I'd be lying in bed and one of them would come in and wake me,  saying "it snowed last night." Of course, I'd get up, look out my bedroom window, and see thereContinue reading "April Fool’s"

Star Parties

Dusted off this one from a few years back, for the upcoming essay collection.  Enjoy STAR PARTIES You might find yourself standing in the checkout line at the grocery store, waiting but anxious and bored, having forgotten how to daydream. Your attention might drift to the tabloids lined up strategically in front of you, readingContinue reading "Star Parties"

Ode to the Sunday Paper

Just in time for the weekend, folks.... Ode to the Sunday Paper One of my greatest pleasures is sitting down on Sunday morning cup of coffee in hand, once twice, three times refilled reading through every section of the newspaper, curiosity landing on my lap like the blue jay at the feeder outside my doorContinue reading "Ode to the Sunday Paper"

The Party

Feeling a little bit maudlin when I wrote this new piece of flash non-fiction, but just tried to roll with the feeling, honor it, and hopefully, make it something more. Enjoy. Doug THE PARTY On Sunday afternoons, if I’m out running errands, I like to stop at my favorite record store and see if anythingContinue reading "The Party"

Nashville Haikus

Recently I was reading some Alan Watts (Zen and the Beat Way), and was struck by his analysis of haiku poetry. He wrote “by the seventeenth century the Japanese Zen Masters had brought ‘wordless’ poetry to perfection in the haiku, the poem of seventeen syllables which drops the subject almost as it takes it up…”Continue reading "Nashville Haikus"