Written in 1983.
Shadows of images.
Images of shadows.
Ghost of my nightmare.
Monster of my dream.
Who are you who hides
in my closet?
Why do you stalk me?
My veins are filled with fear of you.
But then, who is the fear-filled one?
Is it I? Or is it you?
Maybe it is I who stalk you.
Monster of YOUR dream.
Ghost of YOUR nightmare.
Image of YOUR shadows.
Shadow of YOUR image.
Today I’m writing about tanka for my Examiner.com column. So I thought I’d write a sample tanka because I can’t seem to find the one I wrote when I was doing a report on poetry in the 5th grade. Here is what I came up with: I pick up her bowl and recall her furry…
Written in 1983. Wastepaper basket filled to the brim with wads of fresh, new paper. Desk cluttered with paper, ink and pencils. A slumped figure snores over a sheet of paper. The words “Once upon a time . . .” are scribbled out on the top line. Looking closer at the wads in the basket,…
I had an interesting dream last night. I dreamed I was working for a computer company that had a big office building with very few people working in it. Some of my friends from past jobs worked there. I was only there temporarily but, was doing my best work for them. One day, I go…
This was written May 18, 1984. I stand alone, as I always will. Friends come and go, but all the while I stand alone. Just a molecule of air, am I, tossed about by the wind. I see, and know, and love others but they go and I see, know and love more. Always there…
This is one of my earliest successful speeches. I competed in several High School competitions, often earning a fifth-place certificate. My father helped me with the cadence and rhythm, but the writing and research are all mine. Later, after the Loma Prieta quake (which I got to experience first hand), I updated it and used…
This poem was written after a very stressful week in January 1998. Sitting on the toilet with my underwear on I wet my pants, but didn’t notice because of all the things that had distracted me from pulling down my knickers in the first place. It wasn’t until I went to wipe that I realized…