
Realizing age adds character has proven to be quite a grounding experience. – Ash

I only have a portion of your whole life. But because I gorged, it is enough to sustain me for the remainder of my own. Your stories like ripened fruit that were picked just for me. In the garden, we grew together. They remain sweet to this very day. You taught me there’s no spoil in a deep-rooted yarn. A good yield will last forever when you remember where they’re planted. – Ash

a chair with no back
black and white paint flicks all over it
it’s pulled to the threshold of a spring rain
where I was perched
at that tiny door under the house
I am mesmerized
I am tranquil
I am frozen
in awe
in comfort
in curiosity
as the small rain rivers push down our little lane
carving its fight
water from the sky stretching and stretching for something bigger
to the ocean that’s only a small way from our hamlet home perhaps
there’s a seagull struggling in the wind, I hope he makes it
I think about birds for a moment and gales
until buoys pull me away out there drowning over and over in the storm swells
boats rocked in all the wrong directions
kelp flaps clinging to moorings who never wanted them in the first place
then I catch a race
a bottle cap leads a fallen leaf
both carried along the curbside down the road
passing gravel traps and grass hazards
the cheers in my head grow loud as rain poured like applause
thunder even showed and lighting had to come too
to see this race and how small it was
a spectacle on a grand scale to me
the only fan of something worth an encore
it was then the rain stopped as the bottle cap did
by the fallen leaf
both stalled by the grate covered in debris
drifting and dancing together like memories do

Caught the bus for my afternoon classes only to have them cancelled. What now? Oh, I know. Off to the university library I go. Where I spent almost all of my free time while on campus. It was a five-minute walk from my political science class and I used every second of it to get there. Soaking up the semester sun and atmosphere of an ordinary Wednesday late 1990’s.
Continue reading “Second Thoughts # 15 – ISBN Thinking About This Memory”
A chronic smoker, that white-haired man who never stopped talking, and the backwash guy. Three reg barflies and a keep. Lies told, secrets shared, and all I heard was “Ah, one more for the road”. Swiftly, I would grab a frosty beer glass from a humming cooler, then reach for the silver tap. Froth to pour, the perfect head, and ding went the register. Sale…total….enter…$2.25.
Continue reading “A Shade of Ash # 44 – One of the Best Chapters Bar None”
Hanging out on a merry-go-round in the heart of a summer was very teenage…

I remember those Saturday nights we’d walk home together. In the lull of a quiet harbour. Watch a boat go out or watch the one cab we had drive down the south side. Laughing, carrying on with each other, and three sheets to the wind. Sometimes we would talk the ears off each other, other times you were too contrary. But, I would always make you laugh until you were over it.
Our strolls home from a party, a wedding dance, or the club were where our friendship grew the most. How comforting it was to have you as my best friend. You’ll always be my best friend, but I miss you and being alone under a streetlight at night still makes me mad…
…talk to you tomorrow.