domestic life

Babies without daddies

My doctor is pregnant. She’s a thin, elegant dermatologist who went through a bitter divorce and custody battle that lasted long after her separation from her husband. She had seemed strung out over the whole thing, and I was surprised to find her pregnant again. It turns out that she is the third of myContinue reading “Babies without daddies”

Our Children Are Not Our Children

This is a photograph of my grandchildren looking out on the Pacific Ocean. They have their backs to us, and that is appropriate. As Kahlil Gibran writes in his poem On Children: Your children are not your children. They are the sons and daughters of Life’s longing for itself. …….. You may house their bodiesContinue reading “Our Children Are Not Our Children”

Chives on my balcony

When I moved to an 18th floor apartment in semi-urban Hoboken from a large house in suburban Montclair, I brought with me a nondescript chive plant in a cheap orange pot which was supposed to be reminiscent of clay but was only plastic. I stuck it out on the balcony and left it there. ItContinue reading “Chives on my balcony”