This summer is the summer of blackberriesWe swim in the barely cool waterAcross the little bayAnd pick blackberries along the shore each SundayThis year big and juicyThey droop down toward the waterBeckoning outstretched fingersEating our fill noting the oncoming ripening berriesAlready thinking of eating them next SundayLaughing and washing our hands in the clear waterWe slowly float back across the bay on our backsWatching circling ospreysThe sky and lake melting togetherFeeling each ripple…See More

I don't think that I am the only teacher in this country that feels that we are witnessing the crumbling of our schools, in real time, as each day goes by. Here in California each day passes and the state fiddles around in Sacramento with no hope of a budget in sight. This means our districts can't plan rationally for the new school year that is only a few weeks away for most of us. In this county over one hundred teachers have been let go over the last two years, with children in most…See More

The Himalaya Blackberry is an invasive plantExpansive, it creeps forward over everythingDawn creeps tooQuickly fingers reach forwardPrize within reachSoft dark fruit juices running down fingers into a stained palmEverything summer contained in that tiny berryLegs scratched bleeding but still reaching forwardThe sweet flavor of summer irresistibleDeep memories, laughter, warm sunChildren, brothers, sisters, friendsPicking wild berries long agoReminding don't eat too many fill the…See More

Fern Canyon, Prairie Creek Redwoods State ParkHumboldt County, CaliforniaBrook and birdsongRipples on the KlamathCool fog and quietearly morning light See More

Shimmers in the heatFenceposts give wayTo the colored moving specks of cattleMirages in the distanceYet real Across a vast unending landscapeA sky so blue so cloudless so dryMountains frame the boundariesSome looking like they were carvedBy the ever-present windPeaks curved at the top like dunes in the desertThe road rolls awayThe taste of dustThe delicious scent of sageAll things are possible under this skyIn this WestGrasshopper-Termo Road See More