Short and Shorter: Short Stories and Poetry

The short stories and poetry, written over a 35-year period, include characters involved in international arms trading, a wife forced to choose between a philandering deceased husband and her son, a husband who has fallen in love with his wife, the fate of heaven when its computers fail, a creative and ambitious stock broker who takes a bold step to break out of "the bull pen," three generations of friends harboring secrets, an aspiring teenage writer exploring life on a long bus trip, the unfulfilled ambitions of a would-be scholar, an almost love affair between the brilliant pianist and the talented viola player, and other tales. The stories are each followed by poetry devoted to gardens, a memorable mother-in-law, a weekend with sons in a Ford Red Ranger pickup, an autumn walk "on my mother's streets," a sweet reunion in a nursing home, a tribute to a neighbor just deceased, a jubilant 30th wedding anniversary, a young man contemplating life's career choices, and a collection of whimsical limericks plus a dance through the hills and dales and a waltz of the Town Center "binding trash into bales."

The stories and poetry describe both what did happen and what might have happened "if only"... .