don’t work for free. period.
Your toilet is clogged, and you've called a plumber. "Is this Bob the Plumber? Yes, I have a clogged toilet. I want you to come and fix it. In exchange,…
unguessed miseries (reprise)
Tonight, in my kitchen, we reminisced with friends about our camping experiences and remembered, many of us incorrectly, a night that featured a bloody t-shirt. My daughter observed that I'm…
you move me.
I loved a tree. Correction: I love the tree, though it's been dead a long time. And despite the fact that it was chopped down today, its logs hauled away,…
and jesus was his name-o
When my daughter, Serena, graduated from our neighborhood Christian preschool, I was less relieved that she was kindergarten material than I was that the number of holiday recitals would dwindle.…
3. enjoy beer.
Were I a writer of odes, I’d dedicate a book of them to my beverage of choice. O, the bitter bite of hops, the sting of bubbles on my tongue,…
2. call bullshit
I call bullshit where I see it, and I’m not going to stop, despite the letters from a motivational speaker disguised as The Universe, despite Internet memes that spread like…
1. breathe
The nail that holds my kitchen calendar is in the side of a bookcase, and it's pretty tight despite the hundred times we lean on the pages hanging from it…
love bedes
On the oak bookshelf in Jim Hill’s treatment room—or torture chamber, if you’re me—sits a stone bust of Quan Yin (Kwan Yin, Kuanyin, Guanyin), Chinese goddess of mercy. If you’re…
I’m not not happy. Hope you’re not not happy, too.
“'I’m happyhope you’re happy, too.…sordid details following.'”—David Bowie, “Ashes to Ashes”My face is naturally like this. At rest, my lips curl slightly downward. Engaged in an activity like talking or kissing…
The Tit Show!
I was on WYPR's "The Signal" this weekend with Aaron Henkin. Here's the interview. For the entire episode, go to The Signal.I did this interview to promote poetry and The…