Down at the waterfront’s “Naked Oyster,” the dinner hours are over. The clink of glasses at the bar can still be heard as patrons move to the small stage area and the house lights begin to dim and focus on the night’s entertainment. Over the PA system comes the singular announcement: “Ladies and Gentlemen of […]
The A Cappella Handyman: Paying it Forward
Paying it Forward Went out to see a customer this morning, from what she explained on the phone, maybe I could do her work, or maybe I shouldn’t. Turned out I referred her to two new sources, both younger than me, that will do her work just fine. We talked for the next hour on […]
The A Cappella Handyman: Chapbooks 1, 2 & 3
1973. I needed to do this first one, BAD! I had some 40 poems I wanted to share with the world and it was a new adventure for me. I’d only been writing since 1970 while listening nights to Neil Diamond while freelancing from home as an illustrator after doing the same at SERL days […]
The A Cappella Handyman: Poets’ Conversations
Poets’ Conversations JPL6’s gonna be outa town, So she asks TES, our Poet-Artist To emcee the Benicia First Tuesday Poets’ Night Meeting for Aug 1, 2017. Who in turn calls me, sayin’, “Can you make me a reminder poster For the Flock, theme’s gonna be, ‘Writers, Poets, and Song,’ And can you sing something, too?” […]
The A Cappella Handyman: Benicia, Love Poetry Capital of the World?
Benicia, Love Poetry Capital of the World? It’s a tough title to aspire to, but if it looks like we’ve arrived, what damage can that do? It was our founder and First Poet Laureate Joel Fallon’s wish that Benicia have that warm and fuzzy title in the poetic world community. Well, suppose we’re there? Case […]
The A Cappella Handyman: Dream Trough
Dream Trough Did you fall in again? It’s not a river or a closet or a book or a collection, but an old, nearly hollowed out horizontal tree body with closed ends. Somewhat like what you might expect deer to drink from in a forest. And therein float our dream fragments, our poor befuddled brain […]
The A Cappella Handyman: Cat Hair in the Wing Tanks
Cat Hair in the Wing Tanks That’s enough to spoil your day or whet your appetite to know how the rest of the song goes, and so this is our Departure Point for this flight on a Thursday column. How DOES cat hair get into a set of wing tanks? And do we mean wing […]
The A Cappella Handyman: White Caps
I am a White Cap I am a white cap, The wind blowing at my back. I am a flashlight, My light peering into every crack. I am technology, Enough to know my cellphone And computer. I am my own poem, Metaphors enough To know the breeze that blows And entertain Myself. Song for Ramona […]
The A Cappella Handyman: Songwriter
Songwriter It’s a cultural thing, I enjoy the storytelling of how the event takes place leading up to the song or poem’s creation – Then to express the same emotion and brain-heart-spirit interaction as when the original was written, no less than Billy Joel or Carly Simon might To overcome the shallow dumbing-down of America […]
The A Cappella Handyman: Book 4
Book 4 Books two and three never saw the light of day, they went into the trash and the trashman took them away. They were poems destined for a one-time show, written on the backs of business cards and shopping bags and stuffed into pockets and then into boxes until finally they fell to the […]