we bar chitchat then you are from belize i have never met anyone from belize it appears to you that i sincerely want to know your life story an expression seizes your soft face you light up fascinating enough suddenly i actually do want to know more abruptly you check your watch our conversation full…

When you wish hard enough for something, you might get it. It was getting late, and I moved over to a barstool to tell her that I was in the mood for her. She looked at her watch, took my hand, turned it over, then rested her chin with her other hand and looked at…

“So what da buggah said?” ma madda asked afta ma fadda dropped me off. “About what?” “About what?” she said, mocking me. “How about what he promised fo pay me in child support? About what? How about what he owes me for trowing one brick tru my windshield?” She sat at the table looking out…

There were six of us in that first group admitted to the Ph.D. program in English at UH Manoa. Two of us were local born and bred. I was the only non-white person – well, the only half non-white person. I’d gone to the University of Wisconsin at Madison for my Masters. Babs Kolowitz and…

“So what da buggah said?” Rudy the barber asks me. “Some bullshit about Denise and Chris.” I’m waiting for a haircut. Out of the corner of my eye, I see Christopher Andaya enter. He’s dark, looks real Hawaiian. “Chris, whas’up?” Suddenly he pulls a knife, comes at me. I grab my gun inside my jacket…

Each burning moment passing me I longer long for long-lost things Though red-hot fire her ashen cold The north star’s nearness clasped Within her eye and ice A minute interlude Shot between her lives And then the dream train roars I see The come, the here, the go Still searching for that familiar face My…

The vendors are swarming us. “I see your future,” she says, grabbing at my arm. “You like know? One hundred yuan.” I glance at her. She has coke-bottle thick glasses. Can she see anything? I pull my arm away. “Bu yao!” “Fifty yuan.” I feel my shirt pocket to make sure my wallet’s still there….

Rain drizzled outside the window. How much? It’s $200. He looked back at her. Do you want it all now? She shook her head. No. Then is okay. And only half. That would be fair. And it’s me. She nodded. The wind had picked up. A storm seemed threatening. And you don’t want it now….

A long journey Joyce Kilmer Park in the Bronx To his home in New Brunswick, New Jersey Walking the way A pilgrim’s quest I come Gateway to his mansion Behind and above An enormous red oak Towering God I marvel The one tree I pass the gate Go back Wrap my arms as far as…