SHORT STORIES + ESSAYS + POEMS


SHORT STORIES

grew out of tales of legends, myths, fables and fairy tales and should be compact enough to tell at a single sitting or reading. The modern form is diverse, often involving an initial situation with a conflict that rises to a crisis ultimately resolved for good or bad in some manner.

From about 1963 to 1970 I kept a journal that included short stories. I told countless stories when my children appeared on the scene but didn't write any down. With my granddaughters I wrote the stories I thought had merit. Of course, not all were written for them.

  1. AMENDMENT 28
  2. THE ASS AND THE HEN
  3. AWRECK VS AMURDERKA
  4. BEAR AND RABBIT
  5. THE BEST YEAR
  6. THE CAD
  7. A CARTON FOR BARTON
  8. THE CEDAR CLOSET
  9. CHOPIN ETUDE #3
  10. ALEXIA'S COMMAND PERFORMANCE
  11. A SURPRISE BIRTHDAY GIFT
  12. FIRST
  13. GOLDEN ADVICE
  14. GRANADA GODDESS
  15. HECTOR AND HELEN
  16. IDEOLOGY'S LEGACY (HAMID THE TIMID)
  17. INDEPENDENCE
  18. THE KNOWING SMILE
  19. THE LIFELINE
  20. MILITIA MAN
  21. A NATURAL CLAIRVOYANT
  22. PAINLESS
  23. THE PATRIOT
  24. THE PRIZE
  25. QUEER
  26. A REAL DREAM
  27. SUGAR CHARLOTTE'S SOLUTION
  28. TWO MEN FOR LAURA
  29. THE UNPROFESSIONAL KISS
  30. WRITER'S BLOCK

POEMS

Poetry is a form of aesthetic literature, related to song, that involves elevated feelings and/or rhythm with metre and rhyme.

I have been inspired to write poems by a range of emotions and experiences. The emotions include passion, sadness, regret, depression, and the desire to be witty. The inspiration may be personal but in most cases I hope to capture some general truth, feeling, or observation.

Each poem in the collection below is accompanied by comments on its inspiration. This is important whether or not my thinking is profound because it is always valuable to understand the roots and sources of creativity and inspiration.

The number of poems I include is too large to list separately. Therefore, I collected them in the single volume below, arranging them chronologically. All my poems have rhyme and meter. I confess that I simply do not understand free verse.

Here is an example of one of the poems, perhaps my best. It was inspired by my feeling of gratitude when my wife, Bernice nursed me back to health after a serious case of the flu.


Sousa only had a band,
Moses but a Promised Land,
Jason just some Golden Fleece,
But only Stanley has Bernice.

ESSAYS

constitute a form of literature, similar to speeches, that express an opinion. Essays tend to be factual, but they may overlap with fiction, for example in the case where exaggeration, satire, parody, or lampoon is used to make a point.

I use the essay as a way to make myself heard, or at least feel that I am heard. As a result, many of my essays are inspired by anger at situations I feel are unfair. I am often satirical and as the result of my personality, much less often inspirational. But I'm working on it.

  1. AFTER HAPPILY EVER AFTER
  2. AL GHAFIQI'S REVENGE
  3. EUPHEMISTICS
  4. A LITTLE LEARNING
  5. TWO CASES OF ABUSE
  6. ANXIETY IN THE GRASS
  7. BASEBALL'S MOST UNBREAKABLE RECORD
  8. THE ADMIRABLE BURT LANCASTER
  9. CLOCKING OUT AT MOMA
  10. THE IMPORTANCE OF INTONATION
  11. DENIED TRUTHS
  12. NERDS AND THE BIRTH OF CREATIVITY
  13. THE CRUCIAL COMMA OR DON'T, STOP
  14. THE GOLDEN YEARS - UROLIFT
  15. LABOR PARADISE LOST
  16. UNDERSTANDING TRUMP'S SUCCESS
  17. A THRENODY FOR OUR NATION
  18. TWILIGHT THE NATIONAL ANTHEM
  19. THE FAMILY STORE
  20. MONDAY MORNING MORALISTS
  21. UNDERSTANDING THE OPPOSITE SEX
  22. SERMON TO SVE++ WRITERS
  23. LIVING UP TO THE SERENITY PRAYER
  24. WE NEED SCIENCE BUT CRAVE MAGIC
  25. THE 22 STATE SOLUTION
  26. WISDOM OF THE HISTORIAN
  27. UFO'S AND GOD