I am a gastroenterologist, living with my wife in Denver. Most of my poetry is not medical. My work has appeared most recently in Field, Rattle, and Hotel Amerika.   

Evening Special


In the time it takes 
to reply Angel 

Hair Pasta with White 
Wine Sauce and a Garden 
Salad with Raspberry 
Vinaigrette 

the waiter 
jots a poem 
on his small, 
lined pad. How 

I envy 
the swift & thoughtless ease 
of his composition! 

Why does passion 
often fail 
to wield a stub 
as sharply 
as indifference?   

If only words 
would supply my hunger, 
ever-gnawing, 
with meat that pleases.   

The thin young man 
almost transparent 
        
Will That Be All? 

takes his little work 
to the kitchen 
for the cook to see.