Apologies for the post-holiday posting of this. It somehow landed in drafts when I imagined tapping the “publish” button.
A merry montage for my family that I share with you this Christmas.
May you, your family and friends, near and far, enjoy a peaceful and joyous holiday.
Love, am
Nero the Cane Corso, friend and muse to my sister, Grace; Honey the Pit mix, adopted this year, crazy companion to my sister, Dolores; Cormac/Mac-mac the Malamute, snow-lover and liege to my sister, Virginia; Mojo the Dachshund, long-bodied, big-hearted buddy to my family; and last but never least, Kiwi the Testudo tortoise, roommate and foil to my daughter, Caroline❤️🎄🌟
Bringing the Misfits Home A Sentimental Christmas Memory
we embrace every relative load up the wagon, pack in tight and leap onto the highway Staten Island to New Jersey chrome steeds try galloping past our Country Squire, but Dad fantasizes he’s lead stallion from the rear-facing seat, I watch the mesmerizing herd of headlights trail farther and farther behind no other man (driving 90 miles an hour) will ever replace this depth of faith my fierce childhood possession, always
into the cold, dark Jersey night, we arrive home the V-8 shudders, the presents cushioning our sleepy heads rattle my little sister’s pigtails shift on my shoulder, I shake the bones to wake us up Tima’s barking gnaws the sleep crust from our eyes while we unpack every last ounce of Italian cheer and clamp our gifts beneath all available arms my brothers, sisters and I march like weary soldiers across the snowy lawn we trudge up the brick stoop and into our warm home pajamas quickly managed, we mime brushing our teeth
Mom tucks us in and kisses our cheeks with her smile brighter than winter I surround myself with stuffed animals, swaddle in blankets and stare out my bedroom window to search for the blazing star of my picture books (I’ll later learn that I’d been praying to Venus all along)
tomorrow, like clockwork, Emile will stop at the corner of our street yell out in his mildly, terrified mailman voice, “WHERE’S TIMA?” one of us will step into the cold to coax our hefty German shepherd away from her favorite place on the front stoop to bring her inside and just like that, Christmas is officially over
(Opening image, 1980 – Christmas Tree) (Image directly above, 1980 – my little brother, Vito, me and our goofy shepherd, Rosie Unfortunately, I couldn’t find an image of our childhood shepherd, Tima, a much more serious-minded shepherd )
Long ago, I began what I affectionately titled my ‘kitchen-sinking file’ an ever-growing repository to hold my murdered darlings — the words I couldn’t jettison into the infinite, all-powerful, sometimes destructive, and often just downright crappy void of invisible voices
For this first short reconstructed piece, I wanted an environmental theme — Though the merged thoughts are depressing, this was an enjoyable exercise to do. I hope to create a few more of these pieces in the future.
Reconstruction 1:
NATURE VS US we seem to be fighting against her only one of us can emerge victorious
I. while we busy ourselves engraving our legacies into granite the concrete angel arms waiting for our bones fade away beneath the ebb and flow of our disbelief
II. DELETED as we delete the things we detest
III. beyond the horizon, where the hot lands submerge he rolls his great mane to rest upon the blackened grass south of the Sahara the great space around him vanishing as he sleeps
IV. slipping and whipping down the burning slide saddled to a cement slab in sun dried: Any Town, Earth County ZipZapped000
V. obfuscators of earth’s guardianship whose clasped hands grip limitless wealth (go ahead, toss those deposit boxes and time capsules into the rising sea)
…and they tossed their wishing well coins
VI. sometimes our beasts go silent sometimes our beasts escape most often they starve to death despite their accumulated knowledge
VII. long ago, a pregnant virgin cradled my childhood faith
VIII. I must remember skating on Papa’s ice pond, and I must always pray for spring
——————————————————————————————- captured footnote: X——-X entry: byte.non–f (fire drive destroyed 2025/alt recovery file cap 219) 5Z 7K 24X: date doc// October of the 6th route//2030 ——- archive:context txtvolume79033cvx130..:///Rational science had been crushed beneath the Mad Believers (4fT99)//and those by their side squatted on the world… during this period, fear and hate thrived and love un-lived Entry200060002324//eventually The Mad Belief (ipsumibidMXCII1112) was forgotten ///recollected during nature’s self-purge/mankind no longer present… ———- end entry…datapoint…X recording 54567 —–someone screaming on the floating island collect years, savaged roots, where are you all???end transmis /’’’tend the children well/’’’’’ they begged, sow seeds, plant saplings you there – apologize for unsalvageable soil. unusable water earth’s clock solar-powered no backup no backward angels’ concrete dissolved
Hi there, How I wish there was more love flooding the world rather than tidal waves. Nonetheless, I’ve anchored the drywall in warm hues. (Blue DragonUmp latex satin too depressing) Here’s a brush of autumn color for your chilled porch.
artwork created a few years back, updated recently (snake & squirrel created with Prisma & watercolor marker, snake background created with Canva/fun program:))
are cruel; bring good fortune; are the stuff of legend; are born of pre-scientific conjecture; are endangered; protect the gods; hide from man; are heart balms in stuffed lizards; are vicious plastic forms on gaming boards; have multiple heads; are purple singers with green polka dots; eat humans; protect mankind; have wings whether invisible or not; don’t do transactional relationships; are powerful cinematic stars; are shy; are pure of heart; have Sir Sean Connery’s voice; have honor; have the name Draco, Lachrymose or Puff; carry your fire.
Though their remarkable eyes are permanently shut, each vivid bright eye (they have two, they have twenty) follows you through a transparent scale. Your dragon always sees you even when you are alone in the world.
From my dragon to yours,
Merry Holidays to you and your loved ones
Be safe, be well, enjoy some flaming rum punch and never stop embracing your fire…
(image above – Holly Dragon makes an appearance every Christmas)
She’d move along in measured paces wearing sensible shoes from down the street by the park where Washington met Lafayette, and the giant oak we’d worship and play kickball beneath
Each weeknight, the umber circle on her right shin commuted from a city bus to the front door of my suburban childhood home Sometimes I’d watch the moving bullseye grow from a dark dime to a darker quarter
Grandma and her mole would always arrive on time for supper. And after working a full day at her paper factory job, she’d retire to her bedroom, watch Perry Mason, smoke Parliaments and knit something for somebody
But every July 4th, after the dinner dishes were cleared away, we’d enjoy the illuminated night sky, we’d eat red, white and blue cake, and we’d sing Happy Birthday to Grandma
An oldie but goodie🌹 (from left to right) my grandmother, my mom, my uncle
His friends called him Bill, the rest — Vito I remember other men gathering ‘round him at parties Women telling him what a handsome figure he cut
He smiled in that tall, broad-shouldered frame His eyes were as piercing as his deep voice— terrifying as a child remarkable in my adulthood
I believed any criminal in my father’s path would immediately surrender themselves to this larger than life FBI man Judicious and fair with or without his law degree
His life stories from working an ice truck at seven years old to duking it out on a golf course at seventy were mesmerizing in detail, entertaining in delivery
The temper — he possessed a fierce one No patience for silliness but all the time in the world for family
I reflect often on his driving force his charismatic personality his soft side
Not a day goes by when I don’t miss him
HAPPY FATHER’S DAY to all you wonderful fathers!❤️
dragon / dragons [ drag-uhnz] 
anntogether 