For my brother John you know centuries of the world in that the world is your people and your people love to grow with you like how we live centuries longer in a forest … Read More »Imagine you’re a tree for a minute and
These Maps Are Ghosts Maps give us a single dimensionfrom the eye of the victor. History guided the cartographer’s hand:millions massacred— meant a line carved farther south, farther west in the name of Accomplishment. The flattened depiction does not show the deep graves—or the families turned into sun-baked mounds deprived of a bare minimum of dignity. At a quick glance, those lines and labels appear reasonable, justified through centuries of silence. Move closer, put your face right up to the creased paper so you can catch the stomach-souring scent of decay. Rivers of dried tears mixed with spilled blood. Trace your hands across the grooves, shading, and pen points. The truths buried… Read More »Two Poems
I LOVE THE WAY YOU WALK after Eileen Pettycrew Especially on the mountainside in the rain,Straw hat tipped over eyebrows dark and slanting,Your legs, long-boned and lean, stepping Without hesitation over cracks and crumbling earth. How you never pause at the fork in the trail, confidentEven as the atmospheric river tries to drown us.I watch you and my heart is a purple lampranthus,Bursting open under the sun. It doesn’t matter If deer are running for cover, splashing our legs With mud as they stream by, close enough to touch. Let us tip our faces to the storm gods, let the… Read More »Three Poems
is part lemon part joypetals bright pinkat the basebut only whenclosed she dares meI beg herto unfold herselffor my hungeronly I nosedive into hercenter touch her brightnessgingerly ready she curvesand with my blessingmoves evenslower bare rooted toblossomI ask for forgivenessas I prune herfor my windowsill today’s rose
Doug Fortier was born November 22, 1946 in Manchester, New Hampshire and became stardust on April 29, 2022. He was the eldest of four children. The family moved to Ridgeville Corners, Ohio when he was seven years old. When he graduated from high school at seventeen years old he enlisted in the Air Force and served for four years. He moved out to the West Coast in 1968 after leaving the Air Force and worked at Bank of America in the computer department which started him on his career in information systems. Doug met his… Read More »The Writer’s Life of Doug Fortier
I always admired that Doug wrote for the love of writing. He wasn’t focused on where his words might go after he put them down on the page. He sent his stories in emails to friends. He posted them on his website. His goal was the work itself. He once sent me a message that ended with, “I hope your writing is all you want it to be.” That line made me pause. I read it again, and I have gone back to it many times since. What a thoughtful thing to wish someone, that… Read More »Remembering Doug Fortier
I have no memory of when I first met Doug, and I would predict that all of Doug’s friends would say the same. Doug’s hearty grin and welcoming ways made you feel as if you had never not known him, and his steady encouragement of the creative path made you thankful you did. At the January zoom celebration of Doug and his writing, especially his prolific prompt-inspired stories, my dear friend Lew Mermelstein spoke for both of us when he said that Doug was a good writer and editor, whom he thanked for editing his… Read More »Remembering Doug Fortier
I only made it several feet into the room of my first meeting with the Writers of the Mendocino Coast when Doug walked up to greet me. Later, I learned he made it a personal mission to welcome every visitor so they would feel included by our group. Several years down the road, after I joined the board, it became clear to me that he was the man-behind-the-scenes who kept us afloat. As Covid necessitated staying home, Doug stepped in to be Zoom host for monthly meetings, opening half an hour early and staying half… Read More »Remembering Doug Fortier
For Claire and Doug/xo It just is/maybe we make it sosing from rooftops/balconies/porchesbelt out show tunes/opera/R&Byou decide words/volume/tempo Perhaps the question is biggerburied in sixty-two layers/yearsit can’t be burned/forgottenyet it hides with missing thingseyeglasses/keys/hope What if we woke with it/slept in itlike birdsong/traffic/the windJohannes Brahms lullaby orthe annoying ring in the ears/head What if love is mischief/the misfitsthe missing sock you search fora feeling it’s got to be/closeknowing our feet aren’t the same sizeone shoe might squeak or pinch How about we find a place to restmiddle of the day/not the best timewitness beauty/thing/place/personan ordinary… Read More »If Love is The Answer, What is The Question?/#12
During my two years as MCWC Executive Director, Doug jumped right in, volunteering his graphic design and layout expertise. He was always a good sport about my particular wants and needs, and consistently took the basic concept (for ad layouts) to a new level. Doug created a way-cool Under-25 outreach poster and endured dozens of back-and-forth emails during the layout of all other MCWC program flyers. A team player on every level, Doug also navigated competing needs of board members, faculty, staff, budget, and cyberspace. Always with a smile, always with laughter, always ahead of… Read More »Remembering Doug Fortier
