Michael’s Substack
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Seaside
And she shook off her little hand Then ran up to the boardwalk rail To gaze at passing sailboats with Their gold-ringed masts, their white topsail. And…
Sep 16
•
Michael Z.
12
7
August 2025
By The River
Inspired by the fishing poems of Ted Hughes.
Aug 24
•
Michael Z.
9
July 2025
Only in the Movies
And she would often smile, how perfect it all seemed, pill bottles on the nightstand, a golden wig, and through old blinds a vicious sunshine streams…
Jul 21
•
Michael Z.
10
4
Lake Orta on a Foggy Morning
The sky is grey, the snow on branches grey, And grey the stenciled trees weeks out of leaf. The shops all closed, boats piled into a heap, And not a…
Jul 6
•
Michael Z.
8
June 2025
Ka
For J.
Jun 18
•
Michael Z.
13
My Grandmother’s Foraging
The whole thing overflowing; mushrooms, stems, Small flowers with old names I never learned, Sweet berries and odd roots, leaves trailing thin; Washed…
Jun 3
•
Michael Z.
7
May 2025
To the Comedian
The lights go dark, the curtains peel, The clowns possessed by a new zeal Are up on stage. Determined, eager to offend, To trample norms and to…
May 12
•
Michael Z.
9
April 2025
Tasting Notes
A love letter to a discontinued rum.
Apr 19
•
Michael Z.
9
Dear, Dear
Him: Oh darling, true, it's all gone wrong.
Apr 5
•
Michael Z.
10
3
March 2025
Big Yes
A little lizard ran across my desk In green and turquoise inlay, shimmering. A jaunty fella, following a seam Of late afternoon sunshine creeping in…
Mar 4
•
Michael Z.
14
February 2025
The Navigli Strays
Is this seat taken?
Feb 5
•
Michael Z.
12
2
January 2025
This Caesura Kills Fascists
As inspired by a particularly insipid New York Times editorial.
Jan 10
•
Michael Z.
8
2
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