Lloyd Lofthouse
Lloyd Lofthouse earned a BA in journalism after fighting in Vietnam as a U. S. Marine. He then taught English and journalism in the public schools by day and for a time worked as a maitre d' in a multimillion-dollar nightclub by night. He now lives near San Francisco with his wife, and they have a second home in Shanghai, China.Visit Author's Website
A Night at the ‘Well of Purity’ by Lloyd Lofthouse
You are invited to take a journey back to the Vietnam War. One night from 1966, stayed with me through the years, and some might find it disturbing. The event this short story depicts did take place. However, this is a work of fiction. All of the characters, names, and events as well as all [...]
The Dying Mother
It took a long time
For mother to die.
Everyone believed
She would go first,
With dad,
The last dirty-old-man,
Playing the field
Since he loved women.
Mother wore out the pages in her
Medical encyclopedia
To speed things up
On the highway
Of exotic diseases.
Before turning forty,
She had a hysterectomy
When cancer cells multiplied.
That didn’t help
Her state of mind.
Soon after that first surgery,
She left the Catholic Church
Becoming [...]
The Lost Scent of Orange Blossoms
I grew up in
Southern California
Where my family
Ate home cooked
Meals together.
That world died
A horrible, slow death.
Murdered
Like in a horror movie—
A corporate hit job.
Bulldozers and chain saws
Killed it and
Dragged the corpses off
Without a trial.
The replacements were
Televisions,
Fast food,
Video games,
Internet;
Reality shows.
Back in that magical,
Childhood kingdom
Where kids cultivated imaginations
There was an orange grove
Across the street.
The tree man
In kaki pants
And black [...]
