Author Archives: mabujones

I hate losing anything. I arrived in Jeannie’s town and got on the school bus. I was a Sophomore, and this was my fourth high school. Jeannie touched my arm as I walked down the center aisle with a pit … Continue reading →

In an old movie, two people are very much in love but can’t bring themselves to do anything about it because they are middle aged, shy, proper, and afraid. Instead they row out onto a lake, utterly alone. They talk … Continue reading →

I have walked one part of the Robert Frost Trail here in Amherst for years. I know the boulders at the trail head, the skunk cabbage and horse tail ferns in the spring, the gold aspen leaves in the fall, … Continue reading →

As I walked into a poetry class I took decades ago, the professor and a fellow student stood by the window laughing. The professor held a page of poetry in her hand. They stopped laughing when they saw me. The … Continue reading →

“You’re in pretty good shape,” Dr. Ivers told Norman. “Any questions?” “No, not about me, but I think my wife’s hearing is getting worse.” “I see. Well, here’s something you can try to see if you’re right.”         Norman went … Continue reading →

On December 21st, 2006, a massive blizzard hit Ft. Collins, Colorado. It was a storm that pummeled the region and thrashed the trees across the city. Its winds blew down powerlines and the thick snowfall whited out neighborhoods, piling and … Continue reading →

When my daughter was about six months old, she was asleep in her bedroom, or so I thought, while a friend and I had a challenging discussion. We talked for about half an hour then he left. Ten minutes after, … Continue reading →

The other night the wind bellowed through the high pines, tearing through, and cracking branches, scattering them across the ground like sentence fragments. It howled in a song of pressure, tumult, and global currents. The white pines thrashed, and the … Continue reading →

We ask ourselves and each other this season what makes us feel grateful. We are told It is better to give than receive. So why then, do I hear so often a kind of grudging appreciation for or a disbelief … Continue reading →

When I was in high school, one of the best surprises was to come home and find my mother’s friend, Sophia, sitting on the couch, smoking cigarettes, and gossiping in a throaty voice, her high heels kicked off and her … Continue reading →