Gary C. Sterling
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garycsterling.bsky.social
Gary C. Sterling
@garycsterling.bsky.social
12 followers 5 following 440 posts
Writer / Poet

Lots more at https://sterlingbooks.org!
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garycsterling.bsky.social
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
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December 27, 2025 at 8:22 PM
garycsterling.bsky.social
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
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December 26, 2025 at 6:06 PM
garycsterling.bsky.social
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
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December 25, 2025 at 8:18 PM
garycsterling.bsky.social
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
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December 24, 2025 at 8:01 PM
garycsterling.bsky.social
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
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December 23, 2025 at 8:21 PM
garycsterling.bsky.social
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
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December 22, 2025 at 8:56 PM
garycsterling.bsky.social
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
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December 21, 2025 at 7:38 PM
garycsterling.bsky.social
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
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December 20, 2025 at 6:22 PM
garycsterling.bsky.social
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
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December 19, 2025 at 8:03 PM
garycsterling.bsky.social
Shirley's poem about night and life.

https://sterlingbooks.org/poetry/night/?utm_source=bluesky&utm_medium=jetpack_social
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December 18, 2025 at 7:00 PM
garycsterling.bsky.social
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
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December 17, 2025 at 8:41 PM
garycsterling.bsky.social
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
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December 16, 2025 at 9:01 PM
garycsterling.bsky.social
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
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December 15, 2025 at 6:57 PM
garycsterling.bsky.social
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
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December 14, 2025 at 7:18 PM
garycsterling.bsky.social
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
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December 13, 2025 at 6:27 PM
garycsterling.bsky.social
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
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December 12, 2025 at 6:28 PM
garycsterling.bsky.social
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
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December 11, 2025 at 6:29 PM
garycsterling.bsky.social
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
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December 10, 2025 at 8:30 PM
garycsterling.bsky.social
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
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December 9, 2025 at 7:07 PM
garycsterling.bsky.social
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
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December 8, 2025 at 7:10 PM
garycsterling.bsky.social
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
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December 7, 2025 at 8:11 PM
garycsterling.bsky.social
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
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December 6, 2025 at 6:28 PM
garycsterling.bsky.social
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
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December 5, 2025 at 9:07 PM
garycsterling.bsky.social
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
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December 4, 2025 at 8:26 PM
garycsterling.bsky.social
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
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December 3, 2025 at 7:31 PM