12/10/00Full moon rising through mistClouds pouring in from the westRain begins to fall come midnightCold, indifferent to the passage of timein my darkness
Mungo at Two (c) 2015 by Merren Garland Mungo October 2013 – September 5, 2025 September 5, 2025 It is with profound sadness that Merren and I report that Mungo has died today. A valiant companion, a peaceable Scottish Terrier, Mungo was a good dog and an intrepid traveler. Particularly if the road led to…
The atheist having a conversation with god? Written long ago, summer of 2000. I was behind the wheel of my ’87 VW Quantum sedan. I called it the Quantum Heap. I’ve rarely driven a car made in the decade I was driving it. Sitting in a long line of traffic, on the highway, for no…
Written September 4, 2000, during the brief time I lived and worked on Cape Cod, in Massachusetts, amidst tremendous upheaval and personal change. Much was gained. Much was lost. And the trajectory of my life permanently altered, as it does for us all, really, all of the time. Walking dreams along West BayI’ve been walking…
Written in 1999, end of the millennium looming. I was 46, with teenage children and an unhappy marriage and miserable, feeling trapped in the state of Maine, and I hadn’t written much in a long time. At some point, on February 15th, I decided I needed to start a writing project, a collection of writings,…
This HourJune 6, 2025These long twilight evenings of early summer dusk, Castor and Pollux settling into the orange haze of sunset,Pacific fog rising beyond the Coastal Range, sinewing White tendrils wrap around Mount Hebo,Filling the valleys behind Spirit Mountain with rising mist, Beyond the silhouetted spires of ponderosa pine, and fir,Flickering billboard lights along 22…
The Third of July 2025They’re setting fireworks off Across the valley at sunset,Traces of light and distant explosions through Cedar and fir, over near IndependenceFrom the look of it, Waterfront Park,I can’t help but wonder What they’re celebrating,Because it’s not independence, nor freedom, Nor our long national heritage, ourHistory erased and rights diminished,Independence day coming,…
ToastJuly 3, 2025I’d like to propose a toast this evening, A toast to the passing day, the eve of the fourth,To magnificence of clouds ablaze Over stolid shadows of coastal mountains,A toast to my wife, always, we’ve Come such a long way together, a lifetime,As we embark on the next leg of the journey, My…
The post critically analyzes the Republican Party’s alignment with authoritarianism and its longstanding manipulations, drawing historical parallels, particularly focusing on the assassination of Robert F. Kennedy (RFK). The author expresses skepticism about the official narrative surrounding RFK’s murder, suggesting a botched investigation that overlooked critical evidence and potential conspirators. The text argues for reopening the…
No Kings Day protests from coast to coast on Saturday, June 14, 2025. We spent the morning with the grandchildren. They hung around, drawing in the studio for awhile, then stayed to eat. While we ate take-out Thai, my 12-year-old granddaughter Ember asked her father why I was going to the protest at the capital.…
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The Mechanic's Assistant
I'm engaged
In this odd job
Of reassembling myself
too,
Using all of these old bits and pieces,
parts left on the shelf
for many years
forgotten.
A job far from complete,
Indeed, only weeks old, months maybe,
This being the opening salvo
the first steps
of a long journey.
Tinkering with a complicated machine
and unsure of the process,
and the shop manual
useless;
old and worn, and
caught too many times
in the rain.
I'm becoming
immersed in this project
and you keep handing me
tools.
James Garland Poetry 