Line tamer.
My parents and older sister were in town from Bethlehem yesterday, a bus trip they make every couple of holiday seasons. The last time they were here my younger sister from Boston and older brother from California were in town too, a little family reunion just months before my mother would be diagnosed with multiple Read More …
Today I bring you Wonder Woman. She is gayborhood-adjacent. Those who know me know of my love for her. My homage to her–“Orange Colored Sky”–was just accepted to the anthology Drawn to Marvel: Poems from the Comic Books. And though that poem chronicles my childhood memories of Lynda Carter’s portrayal, there are other incarnations I Read More …
Last day of the gayborhood tour, though through this lens one could argue all the ornaments on my tree are a little gay. Today I bring you a fabulous and crazy glass ball that I rescued from the family tree when some old ornaments had to make way for new ones. Objects glow and fade Read More …
One happy discovery upon seeing those old ornaments of Stephanie’s was finding an echo: the pervy elf. My elf recently joined the ornaments. He’s not even technically an ornament, just a bendy little guy that turned up one day and sits contentedly on a bough. Aimee, my roomie and “wifey” thinks she introduced him to Read More …
When Stephanie was still alive. It’s still odd to write those words, to think back ten years ago to memories of a time and place so different from my current life. Memories of weekend trips to Carlisle, PA to visit Brian, my boyfriend of those years. Memories of my first job out of college–an Assistant Read More …
And that is why we never had our tree up on December 4th. Or December 10th or 17th. First came Advent. And my father, a Lutheran minister, wouldn’t let us forget that. We’d bring out the Advent log of birch—ancient Druidic tree of renewal—with three purple and one pink candle, and would do Advent devotionals Read More …
We never had our Christmas tree up this early. In October, small trees would start to appear at every intersection, bound to the four signal posts. On the day after Thanksgiving, the three local high school bands—Liberty, Freedom, BeCaHi—would alternate years performing at the tree lighting ceremony. Freshman year of high school, part of the Read More …
A cardinal on a pinecone nest. Another craft. Once a month the women’s craft guild would meet in the social hall at Rosemont, my father’s church for 18 years. The room smelled of hot glue guns, silk flowers and Spanish moss, and when I was done with my homework I would help my mother construct Read More …
For the month of December, I’ll be posting little stories about the ornaments on my Xmas tree. You can take the boy out of Christmas City, USA… * * * My little sister’s birthday is today, December 1st (Happy Birthday, Jess!). We are four and half years apart, so one’s full birthday is the other’s Read More …
I’ve wanted to write a Christmas poem for a few years now, and have always been struck by two ornaments on my tree: a pickle and a pear. Inspiration struck during a Christmas Eve service last night and I had the first line and title. And then this morning I woke and wrote the rest. Read More …