Gary C. Sterling
garycsterling.bsky.social
Gary C. Sterling
@garycsterling.bsky.social
Writer / Poet

Lots more at https://sterlingbooks.org!
We can do it. We have everything we need to let nature flow and slake a thirsty world.

https://sterlingbooks.org/poetry/controlled-release/?utm_source=bluesky&utm_medium=jetpack_social
December 27, 2025 at 8:22 PM
Remembering a vacation in Tacoma when the whole family was engaged in writing during a long rain storm.

https://sterlingbooks.org/poetry/writers-colony/?utm_source=bluesky&utm_medium=jetpack_social
December 26, 2025 at 6:06 PM
The old chants were Gregorian
Now we meet
them on the street
and wave at a Delorean

https://sterlingbooks.org/poetry/squibs-of-the-day/?utm_source=bluesky&utm_medium=jetpack_social
December 25, 2025 at 8:18 PM
This time of year, there are colorful spots on everything! Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays, all!

https://sterlingbooks.org/poetry/house-measles/?utm_source=bluesky&utm_medium=jetpack_social
December 24, 2025 at 8:01 PM
Shirley and I loved the season as we loved each other. We joked, as our gift to each other, we could wrap ourselves, put a bow on, and snuggle as presents under the tree.

https://sterlingbooks.org/story/christmas-music-and-movies/?utm_source=bluesky&utm_medium=jetpack_social
December 23, 2025 at 8:21 PM
While Pasadena has long been known for roses, Altadena's flower is if the Golden Poppy, the California state flower. Altadena, where golden poppies grow.

https://sterlingbooks.org/poetry/in-highlands-fields/?utm_source=bluesky&utm_medium=jetpack_social
December 22, 2025 at 8:56 PM
Still kicking at 84. In December, Dylan announced dates of the 2026 edition of his “Rough and Rowdy Ways” tour with 27 U.S. concerts, commencing in Omaha, Nebraska, on March 21 and finishing in Abilene, Texas,…

https://sterlingbooks.org/poetry/bob-dylan/?utm_source=bluesky&utm_medium=jetpack_social
December 21, 2025 at 7:38 PM
We’d cut out the egg pouches, glue them into a coherent shape, then paint glue sprinkled with glitter. We were thrilled by their loveliness.

https://sterlingbooks.org/story/and-presents-under-the-tree/?utm_source=bluesky&utm_medium=jetpack_social
December 20, 2025 at 6:22 PM
I looked at the microwave as I took out my re-warmed cup of coffee before putting in the milk and taking to the table by the computer.

https://sterlingbooks.org/story/more-about-the-microwave/?utm_source=bluesky&utm_medium=jetpack_social
December 19, 2025 at 8:03 PM
December 18, 2025 at 7:00 PM
At the holiday season, everybody is in a good mood. People load their carts with cultural variants because Costco carries the fixings for many traditions.

https://sterlingbooks.org/story/costco-christmas/?utm_source=bluesky&utm_medium=jetpack_social
December 17, 2025 at 8:41 PM
When I was young and our family didn’t have much money, we still went to the movies, partly because we didn’t have a television. You could get in for a quarter. Then you bought popcorn. I think they used to…

https://sterlingbooks.org/story/movie-popcorn/?utm_source=bluesky&utm_medium=jetpack_social
December 16, 2025 at 9:01 PM
Among my many brushes with greatness, I remember with special fondness George London near the end of his life.

https://sterlingbooks.org/story/the-great-george-london/?utm_source=bluesky&utm_medium=jetpack_social
December 15, 2025 at 6:57 PM
Not just seasonal. Christmas is a time for love. Universal. A time to feel it, acknowledge it, say it.

https://sterlingbooks.org/poetry/christmas-is-a-time/?utm_source=bluesky&utm_medium=jetpack_social
December 14, 2025 at 7:18 PM
I was a frameman. The main frame was very tall, and we had to use ladders to get to the top. For the connections at the very top, you had to stand on the ladder, keep your balance, crouch under the roof and reach…

https://sterlingbooks.org/story/373/?utm_source=bluesky&utm_medium=jetpack_social
December 13, 2025 at 6:27 PM
Be careful of how you read what you read. Assumptions can be misleading. The voice connecting you with the story may not be what you expect.

https://sterlingbooks.org/essay/first-person-singular/?utm_source=bluesky&utm_medium=jetpack_social
December 12, 2025 at 6:28 PM
Years later, Shirley and I went to hear the poet Richard Wilbur at Cal State L. A. I had long loved his work, in awe of his ability to write the old forms and virtuosic rhymes with depth and elegance…

https://sterlingbooks.org/story/sharing-greatness/?utm_source=bluesky&utm_medium=jetpack_social
December 11, 2025 at 6:29 PM
The dig-up date is chosen to be sure the authors are still alive and able to be remembered at the ceremony which includes the media, a parade with marching bands and rolling tanks, and artillery fired…

https://sterlingbooks.org/story/the-vocabulary-game/?utm_source=bluesky&utm_medium=jetpack_social
December 10, 2025 at 8:30 PM
Heard on the street: I may be ignorant, but I’m not stupid. What I know is it’s getting worse.

https://sterlingbooks.org/story/watch-your-language/?utm_source=bluesky&utm_medium=jetpack_social
December 9, 2025 at 7:07 PM
There's got to be a way to come together. I’m really not such a bad person. You’d like me once you got to know me. Won’t you try at least a little to be more likeable like me?

https://sterlingbooks.org/poetry/more-explanations-pleas-and-excuses/?utm_source=bluesky&utm_medium=jetpack_social
December 8, 2025 at 7:10 PM
Many songs children were taught are deeply problematic. Catch phrases ingrained in our culture can hold us back from becoming better people.

https://sterlingbooks.org/poetry/we-sing/?utm_source=bluesky&utm_medium=jetpack_social
December 7, 2025 at 8:11 PM
Separation of church and state used to be the law, and then a thing, and now just a memory.

https://sterlingbooks.org/poetry/i-want-equal-time/?utm_source=bluesky&utm_medium=jetpack_social
December 6, 2025 at 6:28 PM
A disconnected panic button because it was decided the panic days were over. Then, years after that, the panic button was re-connected.

https://sterlingbooks.org/story/the-panic-button/?utm_source=bluesky&utm_medium=jetpack_social
December 5, 2025 at 9:07 PM
KPFK, that iconic Radio Station, active daughter to the Mother Station KPFA in the Bay Area, held the archives.

https://sterlingbooks.org/story/before-the-internet/?utm_source=bluesky&utm_medium=jetpack_social
December 4, 2025 at 8:26 PM
Stay up late, drink too much, then wake up into another chance to do it all again, and, maybe this time, better.

https://sterlingbooks.org/essay/not-enough-holidays/?utm_source=bluesky&utm_medium=jetpack_social
December 3, 2025 at 7:31 PM