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National Poetry Writing Month 2026, day 13: Glazed Clayscape

April 13, 2026
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Glazed Clayscape

The edge of the table is an interface

Between this world

And the next. In this up-close world

A queen and a pawn may have roles

But the vessel is beholden to neither

And manifests indifference to the rules of chess.

..

The other world seems to be abandoned

Or in abeyance. It quiesces

And will abide till souled visitors

Displace the spaces.

There is a portal to a multitude of elsewheres

Prepared for drama, revelation, fools’ errands

And farewells.

..

Queen, pawn and vessel

Have no other world in which to transition,

No situation to covet,

No agendas.

They leave those to what souls

May arrive.

The Improbable Origin of Tomatoman

March 31, 2026
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November 2015 I answered an ad calling for restaurant workers at the airport; got a Cashier/Host gig at Matt’s Big breakfast in Terminal 4 right by Gate B5 at Phoenix Sky Harbor Int’l Airport; gave two weeks’ notice in September of 2022; had some glorious semi retirement adventures; reapplied for work with parent company SSP America after doing a three-week prep cook training course; was hired as a prep cook for the SSP Commissary in May of 2023; was tapped for tomato-slicing duty by Chef Adam that November. My main job since then has been running thousands of tomatoes through a manual hand-slicer with multiple parallel blades. Over two-plus years I have gotten to be good at it. It is not rocket science, but it does involve some choreography, especially when I start running out of tomatoes.

My good-humored co-workers call me “Mr. Tomato” or “Tomatoman” on occasion. That is fine with me. I strive to be the best Tomatoman I possibly can be. And to the other Tomatofolks out there, amateur or professional, I salute you. May your tomatoes ever be firm yet not underripe!!

Mise en Place II: One Week Later

March 23, 2026
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Last week I made over a dozen works in progress. This week I endeavor to finish as much of what I started as time allows. It is better to anticipate what I will need before I dive in, so I have surrounded the wheel with my unfinished stuff and added water bucket, needle tool, wire tool, trim tool, metal rib, wood knife and an Arnold Palmer made with herbal prickly pear iced tea. I have also centered about five pounds of clay to make chess-piece heads and other miscellany using Throwing Off the Hump technique. Please wish me luck and skill!

none of a nearness less of a vessel more of a metaphor all of an amalgam

January 17, 2026
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the circle spins and fingers shape

and spinning thoughts pull yarn though dreams

an aperture grows wide agape

and spacetime loosens close-knit seams

experience now whets her hands

umbilicuses feed and reach her

with flow and fill she understands

with pull and flip we form a creature

the wielded wheel comes winding down

the helix-curvéd corridor

the proper fission of a noun

will split a nothing into more

Birds Ahoy

January 9, 2026
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I am happy to report that both of my entries to the 62nd Annual Glendale Arts Council Juried Art Show were juried in. Since the first time I successfully entered this show was either 1974 or 1975, I can now say proudly that I have been a part of this prestigious event for more than 50 years. Being a loyal son of my home town of Glendale, Arizona, that means a lot to me.

for the birds

December 30, 2025
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Background: “Nana Bird,” clay, 9″x6″x5″, 30 Dec 2025. Foreground: “Grandpa Bird,” clay, 12″x7″x6″, 30 Dec 2025.

for the birds

nana rests on the rest of the block of clay she rode in on.

grandpa is on the potter’s wheel, giving me the stink-eye.

the two of them took about an hour and a half to make.

“i didn’t ask to be hatched,” grandpa seems to be saying, but his daughter is less harsh

and pleads with me wordlessly to give her at least nine eggs to nurture.

they are unfinished, and i will spend more time than i usually do to spruce them up.

i suspect grandpa wants to be admired.

his daughter wants chicks.

i will see what i can do.