The Lover Who Would Stay (poem - 1993)

class assignment - poem using metaphor (smoking compared to a dangerous lover)

Fifteen years old with time on my hands, thought I'd take you up on a dare.
To Marlboro Country, that's where I went. Tried to ride your wicked, black mare.

By the time I had met you, you had been through all my friends.
But I was your baby chick; they had been a "bunch of hens."

Jack in the Money (short story - 1995)

(class assignment - didn't turn out exactly as well as I wanted, but Jack was truly a confidence man, and I wanted to attempt to capture his spirit).

Working in customer service at USA Today is a crazy kind of existence. Clocks are ticking everywhere, but there is never enough time. The pressure is unrelenting, but we do our best to juggle deadlines and customers. While the deadlines pass, the steady stream of customers seems to flow for eternity. Our jobs require that we recognize that "the customer is always right." And everyone does. Everyone, that is, except Jack.