August 13, 2026

August 13, 2026 / HJ / Leave a comment

ten years ago we had just gotten married
and had delayed our honeymoon to take
while i had the opportunity to perform
in the new york city international fringe festival
and so we were here
ten years ago
in a summer heat wave
staying in a fancy hotel
in times square
two introverts
constantly overwhelmed
and at the end of that trip
ten years ago
we both agreed
that we did not like nyc
and would never
ever
ever live here

jokes on us ten years ago
because, over the last six and three quarters years
i have learned what it is to love
a place

because new york and new yorkers
have taught me so many things
about living and diversity and togetherness and community
and perseverance
and humor
and art

i don’t know what my life would be like living any other place
but i’m damn glad kip found parts of this city away from tourism hell
and we found our little pocket of nature and quiet in the middle of
the city that never sleeps, and i still get so excited
to go downtown and i still get so excited
to come back home and i still can’t believe
we live in this magical, dirty, weird, unique, and wonderful place
that ten years ago i hated so hard

i love it here

July 28, 2026

July 28, 2026 / HJ / Leave a comment

a lovely family weekend
memorials and libraries
and beaches and movies
and good good food

always too short of a visit

but at least there are visits

[and monday evening facetimes
even when we’re both so tired]

we have known each other
a damn long time, after all
after all

July 19, 2026

July 19, 2026July 19, 2026 / HJ / Leave a comment

the only thing i looked up
in terms of the world cup
was what day it
ends

that’s today!
that’s today!

i won’t have to deal with my
city, my
commute, my
life
being interrupted
anymore
after today

[and i made sure today was a day
i stayed the fuck at home anyway]

good riddance to these hassles

and good riddance to the idea
that people would come into this country
as it slides down its slippery slope to abject fascism

i hope it was boycotted to the point of abject failure

[i sure know i’d never pay $93 to take a bus to jersey]

*side note: at least those who did travel, met american citizens in these cities
who showed our allegiance is not with the current administration,
and perhaps world relations are bettering in some ways

which i suppose is part of the point of the world cup

ugh…

July 5, 2026

July 5, 2026 / HJ / Leave a comment

i do not understand
americans —
the insistence on setting off fireworks
when the veterans they purport to support
endure ptsd flashbacks/
when the cities insist it’s a danger in this heat/
when the lightning is lightninging all around them/
and the rain makes the fuses hard to light/
and the legality of it all is kind of..fuzzy…
this “tradition”
[that, like most traditions, is probably not that old at all]
that those who insist on loving america conditional to their understanding of it
also insist on blasting off big fiery booms,
but for whose benefit?
when this anniversary of our independence
the approval rating even inside the country
is at an all-time low —
i don’t understand americans to the point where
i’m insisting on not labeling myself as one
as to distance myself from
the vibe they
emit

[“don’t call me an american,
i’m a new yorker”]

[but new york still had fireworks too tho…]

June 28, 2026

June 28, 2026 / HJ / Leave a comment

Pride

not a sin
not a parade
not an opportunity to buy rainbow things
not just a march
not just a month
not just a gathering of community much needed
but
a vibe shift
another word for joy
a holding society through a season of change
a riot
a protest
a holding society’s feet to the fire when it comes to what is deemed
acceptable
and what is not
a lifeline
a party
but only if all are included together
a personal curiosity
a way to show support and empathy
a reconfiguring of societal acceptance
no longer as what is wanted
but as our society
holding the power
and saying to the “majority”
you cannot cannot cannot make decisions
for the most downtrodden —
it is morally reprehensible when the most alone of us
are not
lifted
up

Pride is a way to lift each other up

and if that is not what is happening
i want no part in it

[if you are in the nyc area, go march in the
Queer Liberation March
today]

June 14, 2026

June 14, 2026 / HJ / Leave a comment

i feel like i’m coasting
sliding around in
almost-depression-land
and i can’t tell what’s
keeping me relatively afloat —
is it having theatre again?
is it my kip? my cat? my dog?
is it my brain chemistry/hormone levels finally calming and settling?
is it the summer heat?
or the summer sunlight?
is it the medication whose only job is to keep the depression from overtaking me?
is it some combination of all of these?

but it’s so strange to feel
the slippery sliding that usually means
an approach to a worse and worse time
but then feeling overall mildly okay

June 12, 2026

June 12, 2026June 12, 2026 / HJ / Leave a comment

thunderstorms
lighting up the sky
behind the lights of the city
sparking joy in my eyes

and midnight evening’s ending

like i’m actually a
new york city artist

June 7, 2026

June 7, 2026 / HJ / Leave a comment

i forgot
i forgot
i forgot how much time
theatre takes

not that i’m mad about it
[it does occupy my mind
in a way little else does]
but
i forgot that it takes me away
from my favorite kip
my favorite spouse
and i don’t enjoy them
feeling
abandoned

at least we can laugh about it

[and someday i’ll get to be home
for longer than
the time it takes
to sleep and wake up and have breakfast and leave]