CHAPTER 1—STARLITE BEACH Maggie and I marry on Starlite Beach. A quiet, quarter-mile stretch of sandy shoreline in Thunder Bay, Michigan. We are barefoot and all smiles as we watch giant black-and-blue clouds roll over Lake Huron. They are electrified with lightning. Thunder rumbles, the storm inches closer, and Reverend Romanowski—one of Maggie’s Dad’s long-time … More Devotion – Chapter 1
Parents in camo and pajamas reeking of cigarettes and marijuana and hard work and BO at the 7th and 8th grade show. A bunch of kids playing instruments for people that don’t really care. Moms and Dads swiping phone screens talking not giving a shit about anything because they confuse being present with parenting. I … More Middle School Band Performance
Fingers through fences pecked and nibbled and bitten by chickens, beagle pups, and bunnies. We were bare-chested, blonde and tan and we ran barefoot and we ran hard turning green grass brown and flattening the yard until the ground was hard-packed like pavement. Mom and Dad never had nice things, a tidy house, an … More little boys
September 7, 2019 9:01 am They walk by without saying good morning, even if I’ve said it first. They sit in front of the TV, a tablet, their phone and let the dog or cat eat from their abandoned cereal or snack bowl. Hey…wait a minute. When did they start eating on the couch? There … More two-face and smiling darkside
Writing another book. Most of it’s been written. Only need to do the hard part, which is go through it story by story, line by line, word by word to make sure it sings, it speaks, it streaks. That it does what it’s supposed to do. Even then there are no guarantees. It could fall … More my soccer field, my trampoline
Round-faced and tow-headed. Tan from hours of summer sun. A kid on the swings. Back-and-forth. Little hands wrapped tight. Around the chains. Arms and legs pumping. Eyes closed on the backswing. Open on the return. My first taste of freedom. Like flying. Summer days spent on the swings. Singing Elvis Presley songs. For my Dad, … More swinging
Sitting with artists. Drinking Seize the Day. Hearing ideas. Sensing stifled thoughts. Frustration simmers just below the surface. As always. All of us just want to do what we love, but politics always come to play. Challenge us. Keep us in line. But if we are as creative as we feel we are, we will … More the work around
