Joan Zoloth
Writers
making and doing

Travis and Joan
Writing and Doing
This site is about our writing, mostly, but also we offer a little cooking, dining out, some drinking, food and travel tips and some just messing around. Trav was a farmkid, boat captain and poet. His talented and lovely partner Joan is a resturant reviewer, food writer, cookbook author, legal counsel, wine expert and much more.
There is one rule here which is a carryover from years at sea. Aboard this strange boat we don't talk about politics or religion. We our however, opinionated.
We are learning every day. To write. To fail. Try again. Come along with us.
- Sep 21, 2025
- 6 min
Old Dogs and All of That
December Poem
fat bellied clouds boot scuffle dragging their muddy cuffs & not giving fuck One about another year of drought. dry piss. cotton spit. cold enough to make the blown outs along the river cuddle up huddle up wrap each other in another layer of plastic. homeless is just another word for nothing left to sell, nothing & that’s what Bobbie left me yeah, singing the blues. this is unsustainable the politicians insist & nod through another day. it is the practice run, dress rehearsal
Old Dogs and All of That
From somewhere out of sight, from within the thatch of trees and brush, a quick jay flew across the yard. It flared its wings and landed...
Gone
It has been a week since the Palisades Fire took our house. I still grapple with the reality and weight of it. Last night, for example,...
Salted
Wind emerges from the usual location heaping scruds of whitecaps toward shore toward my neglected heart. It’s been salted, battered...
Fog
Okay, this is not what I encounter in Long Beach harbor, but it feels like this. Can't see. What is visible is cloaked in mystery. Fog...
Wetlands
WATER, WATER EVERYWHERE Ours was a flat farm, naturally boggy on the east end until we bulldozed some drainage ditches. Made the old...
These Boots are Made for Working
Whether you work on farms, in the trades or in something trade adjacent, one thing is certain-- you'll be spending a lot of your life in...
Boys and Deer
When geese fly overhead the sound is of departure. When deer emerge from thickets they wear coats of secrecy. For weeks the talk in...
Hot and Sweet
Spent a long weekend out of LA and in the Wine Country. Funny how in California we say "wine country" and mean Napa County area. In truth...
Full Wisconsin
for my siblings, very much on my mind........ FULL WISCONSIN My ride, daily, is not lonely. Four, five, six lanes going one way & when I...
"Stranded in the Paint Aisle"
poem published in BAR BAR: exactly the color of black raspberries, that purple-black-blood color amid the seeds. Not blackberries, I mean...
Korea
For awhile I lived on a remote island in Canada, north of Vancouver Island. It did not face the open Pacific but was where many storms...
Sudden Death Shakes
I am troubled by an accident which occurred in the harbor. I myself was not hurt, nor any of my co-workers or family. A young man died...
Driving at Night
Recently I have been going into work very early for some tug work. Most of the time I run the freeways across Los Angeles, like so many...
The Games Begin (again)
Not quite Cowboy Stadium or Arrowhead. This is a shot of the Coliseum, in Rome. Now that the NFL Playoffs are in full swing the...
Rain in the Night
eyes not open release the half-forgotten songs, the directions to places you don't wish to return to, the news of the day in Cleveland,...
Art vs AI
Lately more and more the topic of AI comes up among my friends. The ones in education reveal that they encounter computer generated...
Short Story: CHERRY COKES
https://www.saintpaulalmanac-themagazine.org/post/cherry-cokes The ST PAUL ALMANAC kindly published one of my short stories. The link is...
Growing Dark
Though the days remain warm, the nights grow longer every day. That's a fact, Time Change or not. This poem is one result: Dream Sought I...
Dab Dabble
Years ago my Sweetie gave me a paint set. I toyed with them during the pandemic, but jut once or twice. In a seemingly unrelated matter I...



















