I had to bring my 10-month-old baby son to Short Story class at CEGEP Champlain St. Lawrence junior college in Quebec City in January 1982 A Classroom Visitor: January 1982 One’s life is an urn Smashed into shards Made up of memories Sparked, determined, and falsified by Songs, stories, and photographs. Photos create shards…
Skinned alive… surviving by the skin of my teeth For a great many years, I contemplated suicide on a near daily basis. That I didn’t actually follow through on these ideations had much less to do with principles or consideration for others than with an abiding terror of disappearing forever into the yawning abyss of..
‘Twas the night before Christmas…green-chinned version Whilst we were in Thailand during the festive season, I contracted a nasty tropical skin infection. Here I have written some silly doggerel about this ordeal based on an old familiar poem. ‘Twas the night before Christmas, I awoke with a clatter, And beetled to a mirror, To..
La version française suit la version anglaise. An excerpt from “Christmas tears”, a story featured in my book My Time with You Has Been Short but Very Funny. I have always wept at Christmas, yes, and sometimes tears of joy. When we were children in Georgetown Ontario, our parents dragged us to church, St…
My old friend Andy McClelland is a brilliant singer/songwriter, an Indie musician with an amazing portfolio. He has given me a wonderful Christmas gift by turning two of my poems into songs. Here is the first tune called… I’m a Grandpa for Rent (Lyrics by Robert McBryde) Give the tune a listen by clicking..
Bangkok Christmas 2023 Antlers in the mall I greet you from Thailand A land that so suits me. Where kitsch is as ubiquitous As an exotic Thai fruit tree. Here people wear antlers For Christmas, for fun. They wear elf hats and reindeer And crowns by the ton. I’m foolish; I’m hackneyed;..
I have no grandchildren of my own, except “fur grandchildren,” so I’ve written this little scrap of doggerel to offer my services to all those parents (and grandparents) who would love a break from the relentless pressures of parenting or grandparenting. I’m a grandpa for rent I’m a grandpa for rent, Long in..
I’m an Indie approved sort of guy Until the other day, I thought ‘Indie’ referred to a famous car race. You know, like the Indie 500… though I just discovered that the race is spelled ‘Indy 500’. Until out of the blue, I received this email message. “We wanted to give you the heads up..
Dad Jokes “A wholesome joke of the type said to be told by fathers with a punchline that is often an obvious or predictable pun or play on words and usually judged to be endearingly corny or unfunny.” Self discovery: I am a peripatetic Dad Joke. I just learned the term..
Mommy Bloggers Just learned a new designation from my friend the writer Allan Stratton: Mommy Blogger. A term practically everybody seems to know except me. Allan tells me that “Mommy bloggers are stay at home moms who blog and have been able to get into publishing because of their huge number of followers. This happens..