I wrote this novelette when I was a CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocate.) When children are taken from their parents because the parents were unfit, usually, the parents want them back. Typically, alcoholism or addiction to drugs caused the neglect. Parents are given a limited amount of time to shape up, during which the children reside in a foster home. CASAs are assigned to a child or siblings to spend time with them and help them through this tough time, and make recommendations to the...
Other Writing
Journeys is a collection of poetry and short stories by Tri-Valley Writers.
My contribution, The Very Bad Fairy ,is a short story in this collection. Jasmine takes care of her niece, Delilah, every Saturday while her sister is at work. Jasmine is amused by Delilah's imagination that she sees fairies. It becomes less amusing when Delilah blames the very bad fairy on broken items. When she finds her apron strings deliberately cut off, Jasmine has had enough. She announces that Delilah can't come...
This is a poem Where is Leonard Cohen? which was chosen for a collection to be published by Oakland Seniors
Where is Leonard Cohen?
He wrote about the dark.
He wrote about the light
He made our bellies feel
The commonness of our plight
He wrote about the cracks.
And he wrote about the good.
He made us think democracy was coming
And we thought we understood.
Now the worst of us is sprouting
Forget the idea of a brother
A demagogue emboldens
It’s OK to hate the other.
Our planet has a fever
Alarming in...
This is a true story about being invited to hear President Obama speak at an auditorium in San Francisco. I took BART and struggled following a map. The crowd outside was so large that I had a hard time getting through to the entrance. Most did not know the event was by invitation only. I had to stand as all the seats were taken. I stood near a place I thought would be his entrance. I had brought along a sign saying No KXL (a plan for a pipeline from Canada to our gulf coast) with a photo of...
My following poetry won 3rd place in Las Positas College Writing Contest
A Trilogy of Death
Death is a Part of Life
Death is a part of life, they say;
But I say, whose death, whose life?
My death is the end of my life.
Loss of a loved one they mean?
For I say loss when I mean death
Your death is the beginning of my loss.
Is it the knowing that there is an end?
When you know, you live differently?
Life’s sweetness is in the moment.
Death is Untimely
There is no suddenness like death.
It is not just...