Sample Poems
« Previous EntriesA Pretty Pair of Published Poems
Friday, February 12th, 2010Sometimes I can be dense.
Despite a long personal history of online activity—starting with BBSs during the 80s, way too many hours on GEnie during its heyday, and Web surfing from the first wave—I’ve had a reluctance to submit creative works for publication online. After all, I’ve made a career (since 1984) in print publishing. [...]
“Wednesday”
Thursday, January 7th, 2010(a 50-word story)
Passing the seventh floor, he mooned a board meeting.
She chided him, “Show some decorum.”
He laughed. No, he hooted, exhilarated.
“You’re not taking this seriously,” she said. “God will judge you in the end.”
He considered: If he’d had a “do-over,” he’d have chosen someone else to jump with.
var addthis_brand = ‘LesterSmith’;var addthis_language = [...]
For Jenny, a Toast on 33 Years
Friday, November 6th, 2009This—for those who told us we would fail,
Who said we’d never last. How they must feel
Today. Another year now stands in file
Of witnesses against them. And we foal
One more to prance our fields, a happy fool!
This, to them who never held a leaf
Together—but for money spent a life.
This, to them who never tore a loaf
To [...]
Is this an improvement?
Saturday, October 10th, 2009Yesterday, as part of the #haikuchallenge on Twitter, I wrote this piece:
Red sun falls behind
as I flee the black castle.
Church in the distance.
But I’m not entirely satisfied with that last line. The first two have such stark visual impact, and then the last just flatly states “church.” Originally I had been tempted to go with [...]



