George Floyd, Five Years Later
Sean MurphyI wasn’t naive or historically ignorant enough to think, when Obama won the presidency in convincing fashion in 2008, that America had finally transcended racial matters. But I’ll admit being…
Happy Birthday to My Book
As everyone’s favorite cop John McClane said, “Welcome to the party, pal.” If you missed some of this nonsense a year ago, enjoy this series of throwbacks; if you’ve been with me…
Original Poem: ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY, 1967: MUHAMMAD ALI REFUSES ARMY INDUCTION*
*From 2023: My thanks to Words & Sports Quarterly for publishing my poem about how America handled Muhammad Ali and his (spiritually & politically astute, prescient) conscientious objection to the Vietnam war.…
Val Kilmer: He Was Our Huckleberry
Nice to see some great tributes to Val Kilmer rolling in (and this one in particular, by Esther Zuckerman in the New York Times, where she offers the astute and, to me,…
1925, 2025
“Civilization’s going to pieces...I’ve gotten to be a terrible pessimist about things. Have you read ‘The Rise of the Colored Empires’ by this man Goddard? Well, it’s a fine book,…
On This Day, 1979
Chicago police disperse crowd in center field of Chicago's White Sox Park after hundreds of disco records were blown up between games of a double-header between the White Sox and…
‘This Kind of Man’ is Available Today!
“This Kind of Man,” my first collection of short fiction, is officially live TODAY. Yes, the process of publishing a book is kind of like a marathon, if the training…
Original Poem: Albert Ayler’s Vision
If it’s true a picture is worth a thousand words, this particular image seems able to conjure up entire books, libraries filled with stories of pain and pathos, apathy and…
Original Poetry: Six Haikus for America
Just in time for #NationalPoetryMonth, the amazing team at Exterminating Angel Press has dropped the Spring 23 issue of their magazine on the theme of Recipes for Disaster. Tons of…
Introducing “Rhapsodies in Blue”
Just in time to properly celebrate National Poetry Month, my second collection, Rhapsodies in Blue, is now available! You can pick up a paperback or Kindle version here. I'd love you to…