Poetry — Charles Slater

Celery and Peanut Butter

First tasted in 1949 out of Judy’s lunch bag,a luxury never before experienced. A new idea in flavor and crunchy biting, imaginative, setting up possibilities not dreamed before.

Little PoemsCharles SlaterDecember 15, 20051940s, 1949, childhood, food, Jimmy Carter, ShakespeareComment

The New Mexico Trip

Portales has some unloved curbs and driveways,victims of age and too little thought about design, and some root intrusion. The town full of sweet-natured people doesn’t care.

On the Road, PlacesCharles SlaterOctober 15, 2005architecture, art, design, New Mexico, Portales, streets, travelingComment

A Visit With Nicole

We sat in my daughter’s comfortablehome and talked of what made me a pacifist, my non-combatant military experience and the lieutenant colonel

Billboard, Family, TimeCharles SlaterOctober 8, 2005memory, mortality, mother, Nicole, pacifism, war Comment

Juxtapositions

I am next to the palm tree justbefore the slope down to Silver Street before it was uprooted, before the middle

Billboard, Family, TimeCharles SlaterOctober 2, 2005father, funeral, mother, Sand Dunes Tavern, Silver Street, Teahouse of the August MoonComment

So Ten Minutes Ago

Look here.Now. Do you see? The time is at

Meditations, TimeCharles SlaterOctober 1, 2005coffee, timeComment

The Sunday Trains

The Sunday Trainscome through clogging weekend traffic like a fatty buildup in veins. I dashed out from the new little

Places, Little PoemsCharles SlaterSeptember 18, 2005students, teaching, THS, Torrance, Torrance High School, train tracks, trainsComment

Bad News Bears

FilmIan SlaterSeptember 12, 2005film, movies, theatreComment

Wars and My Father

When I was drafted out of college, andAmericans were dying at a fierce rate in Korea, and Truman’s War put the President in political hot water, and my father had

Family, WarCharles SlaterSeptember 8, 2005death, draft, father, fatherhood, Fort Ord, Korea, Truman, veteran, war, WWIComment

Now What Do I Do?

I'm 73 with limited energy.The fierce struggle to get the floors done is over. The party was a success. We gathered and talked

TimeCharles SlaterAugust 1, 2005age, family gathering, Nelson Rockefeller, work, zenComment

Wind

This morning before the oppressiveheat arrived, new life danced across the fields through the tall grasses with the trees swaying rhythmically.

Places, Little PoemsCharles SlaterJuly 19, 2005cats, desert, heat, nature, porch, summer, wind, ZiggyComment

Barry walked up today,

Little PoemsIan SlaterApril 27, 2005neighbor, dark humor, black humorComment

Eclectic Coffee Mugs

MeditationsCharles SlaterMarch 2, 2005Comment

Eureka

Little PoemsCharles SlaterFebruary 19, 2005Comment

Electric Forest

AbstractCharles SlaterJanuary 27, 2005Comment

Boxes of Childhood at the Curb

Down from college, theyoung man sorts through the closet filled with past treasures, willingly shedding grade school mementos, small

FamilyCharles SlaterJanuary 15, 2005college, growing-up, growth, moving, timeComment

Charged with Concert Glory and Fear

MeditationsCharles SlaterJanuary 9, 2005Comment

Dreams of Competence

Aging, Little PoemsCharles SlaterJanuary 6, 2005Comment

Historical Perspective

HistoryIan SlaterDecember 29, 2004politics, religion, history, familyComment

Busted

Have you been drinking?I don't drink, I lied. You didn't have a little something at your brother's? It's the season.

TimeCharles SlaterDecember 28, 2004authority, Christmas, driving, holidays, pulled-over, VanaganComment

Getting Some Culture

This morning early, after yesterday having seenthe Renoir poster child, Matisse and Degas, et al, I wonder what has transpired.

Billboard, TimeCharles SlaterDecember 3, 2004art, art exhibition, culture, Edgar Degas, fine art, Henri Matisse, Jean Renoir, museum, museum exhibition, painting, passionComment