Selected Poem from What Remains (Turkey Buzzard Press, 2016).

If you ever get the chance, live with an artist.

Live with an artist and you begin to notice

the shapes of things. 

Even the air around the enormous

sprig of forsythia

in the beer bottle,

the way its presence

makes the room fade away,

its relationship with the white wall,

its simple canvas.

Live with an artist and expect food

to slow cook all day

just for the odors of chiles,

the moisture in the kitchen

the falling apart of the meat inside the pot.

You needn't gather the cats.  They will find you.

Move in with an artist at least once.

Plant plenty of daffodils,

whatever you can afford. 

And study the light

all day and in every season

before you decide to do

much else.

Live with an artist. 

Stay as long as you can. 

Leave if you must, then live with

an accountant.

Third Place, The Colorado Lawyer Poetry Contest, 2006.

A POEM FROM THE BOOK: