Let Technology Go

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Sit in silence, with screens in another room. Wait quietly 
for each word to arrive. Have faith 
that they will, that the universe will guide you/me/us.

Alone, we feel detached from the world where everything happens. 
Now someone is tiktok singing, now someone is 
posting a photo, now someone is smiling on a screen.

But no one is here in this room, which could be an ocean or
the branch of a tree, free to be. Dare we separate from the 
netflix masses and those who have lost their way? 
I understand them, I too have been lost
but now found.

Dorm Hallway Phone

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it rings and rings, that 
sound now fabricated for
flat screened rectangles in 
jean pockets, or purses

back then you had to jump 
off the bunk bed, sprint 
down the hallway hoping
whoever was calling would be

desperate enough to let it ring
8 times, 12 times, so important
that someone, anyone answer
because it could be a girlfriend

or boyfriend, or heaven forbid
a parent calling about a pet
dog who was put to sleep
then tears in front of all 
the other dormers in Foss Hall

and to think this happened
maybe twice a day, the phone rang
twice a day, or maybe three times

1987 Basketball Hero

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I shoot baskets like no one is watching. No one is
watching, except me, dream of youth, of future stardom, of
current stardom. Driveway hero of every game, concrete cracks
little lines where I place my sneakers, then heave up shot after
shot toward the red rim, its gravity like a sun, my sun, basketball
that sphere of influence. Minutes become an hour, become time itself.
Stand here, move there, under the hoop, arms and legs
leaping toward the sky.

When The Gun Spoke

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trigger
pull it
or don’t
i’m not in charge
it is the bullet
no, it is your hand
no, your fingers
they are needed
for me 
to work
no, it is your eyes
to see 
to aim 
to know what to look at
no, it is your mind that
decides 
to grip me
buy me
shoot me
no, it is your arm
no, it is the muscles 
that have power
to hold steady
to kill
but whatever you do
don’t blame me
i didn’t do it

Remembering Mr. DeLong: 1946-2023

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I attended Taylor Elementary School in Arlington, Virginia during the late 1970’s into the mid-1980’s. I had some incredible teachers at Taylor. Very high on that list was Mr. DeLong (Mr. D). He was my physical education teacher and had played college basketball and baseball at George Washington University. His approach to PE was methodical; he was so dedicated to the Presidential Fitness Test, Field Day competitions, and all of the details that went into games like dodgeball and earth ball. I remember his deep love of basketball and can still picture his smooth jump shot. After I graduated from college, I came back to visit with Mr. D. We shot hoops for part of an afternoon, and I enjoyed just being near his calm energy. A couple of years later I taught my very first class of students at Malcolm X Elementary School in San Francisco. With those 4th graders I went by Mr. D, in honor of Mr. DeLong.

You can read his obituary here: https://www.dignitymemorial.com/obituaries/arlington-va/jeffery-delong-11255200?utm_source=obit_alerts&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=obit_detail&utm_content=decedent_name

The Old House: 1978-2023

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this is the place
where i once lived
basement tv, saturday sugar
cereal, endless ping pong
mowing the lawn and
shooting driveway basketball hoops
sledding as a child
reading by the fireplace
blasting the beasties upstairs
on the old stereo
ice cream birthday cakes
hide and go seek
learning how to shave
and juggle bean bags
talent shows with sunglasses
and the elvis moves
staring at jumping squirrels
outside my bedroom window
a home once ours
now is no more