Our River
Our River Blue’s Granpa, a dark Paiute, was sent to government boarding schools, that took him far from this… read more
The NYC Puerto Rican Day Parade Cancelled? Don’t Be Silly.
What is this urgency to define oneself? I get some of it: Defining yourself before someone defines you seems critical…. read more
Kathy Change Remembered
The Peace Sculpture Wore … read more
Looking Normal in Kew Gardens
Looking Normal in Kew Gardens It’s normal not to think about the homeless mentally ill, until one picks up… read more
Coming Back Ranting
It has been exactly one strange year since my last post. Turning sixty, my mother’s death, and seeing the psycho-pathology… read more
Ropa Vieja in Cuba and Puerto Rico
*This article was picked up by Counterpunch for their June 4, 2018 issue. Ropa Vieja in Cuba and Puerto Rico… read more
The Common Core: It’s a Cookbook!
It’s often repeated old news that U.S. public education is being undermined by corporate interests and elitist ideologues. Yet, this sinister… read more
American Honey
Montreal Serai’s “Literature: Spirit” issue is out! “American Honey” and three more of my poems were included. Grateful to be in… read more
Being Cowed: A Disorienting Unity
“Hey, diddle, diddle” by Mother Goose Hey, diddle, diddle, The cat and the fiddle, The cow jumped over the moon;… read more
Anti-Heroin Chic on This Black Friday
I recently came across an intriguing literary outlier space called Anti-Heroin Chic that supports dealing directly and creatively with pain instead of… read more
Faces of Maria
The most critical news from a shattered Puerto Rico and its traumatized people is not getting out. People on the island… read more
Prayer Warrior
Bisexuals Go Where? Surprising vapors from your letters: Did you last write, “I accept your offer of a critique”?… read more
Poems Dark Found
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ DVDs Under The Bed /The Shining/Omen/Insomnia/ /Night and Fog/Pan’s Labyrinth/ /Nosferatu/Angels and… read more
Ghazal Me
It’s great to hear “Ghazal Me” will appear in issue #72 of The Ghazal Page. In case you’re unfamiliar with… read more
Trumpian Laughter
After reading about Trump’s proposed 2018 federal budget for discretionary expenditures, I wanted to laugh but simply couldn’t. Currently,… read more
Welcome to My Father’s Day
The following poems are from an unpublished manuscript titled, Snakes and Ladders. There are Fellow Travelers and then There are… read more
PEN: Defending Free Expression
A TOOLKIT FOR WRITERS AND READERS Behind Bill’s Hobby Shop Window there’s a silence in my voice…… read more
Paradise Lost: Borikén:
The New York City Puerto Rican Day Parade is on June 11th; but as a member of the island’s diaspora,… read more
Late America
Painting by Eric Fischl at Skarstedt followed by an ekphrastic poem. Late America Daddy, enough with the… read more
Allen Ginsberg (June 6, 1926-April 7, 1997)
As a Brooklyn College MFA student from 1996 to 1998, I was extremely fortunate to know Allen as my teacher… read more
In a Bottle or a Teacup Today?
In a Bottle or a Teacup Today? Asked about his fighting philosophy, Bruce Lee said flow… read more
Where Will The Words Go Now?
Where Will The Words Go Now? Where will the words go now, when abnormal is being normalized, and journalists… read more
A Tennis Poem: Old School Sweating
A Tennis Poem: Old School Sweating I was trained to watch the ball— the back in the day… read more
For The New Archaics
Recruitment in The Northwest Gallery Tonight This painting calls me in for more of thunderous blasts and… read more
In and Out of Time
Are you ready? Let’s begin with Noam Chomsky sharing one prominent way that critical thought and dialogue are stunted… read more
Inauguration Day: Duck and Cover! Or not!
MY RANT & CLOSING POEMS. Since our last election day, except for a few poems, I have found it hard… read more
Sculptor & Stone
Speaking in Stones I A stone told The Sculptor what it wished to be. The Sculptor melted into tears…. read more
Loving Nonviolence
Given the neo-fascism in the U.S., the raping of Puerto Rico, and North Carolina’s recent Republican coup, my twenty-year struggle… read more
Mentoring? Dancing on the Edge?
Normal blood pressure is 120/80; last week my blood pressure hung around some dangerous numbers; 198/107 made me check in… read more
Newtown Literary #9 and Lending/Returning Books
Newtown Literary had a launching event for issue #9 (buy here!) a couple of days ago, and I was one of four… read more
The Spirit of Tennis
There is nothing wrong with competition—as long as it’s wholesome. It leads to all sorts of good things. Game on…. read more
Milady’s Haiku
Post election day, I’m back to a familiar question: does poetry matter? It matters. Little Framed Picture In a… read more
Living Post-Truth
A Rant: Living Post-Truth It has been a while since my Election Day entry; the initial shock is over; I’m… read more
Dear Daughter
Dear Ruko, Trump will soon be our President, our Commander and Chief: he took America. I have not had… read more
Trigger Warning: Poltergeists, Sex, and Vulgarity
One of my favorite stand-up comedians, George Carlin, the gods rest his soul, did a bit in the early 70s’… read more