The Pile

In one pile, all these stories: a dead father. Fear of heart attacks. Giving a drunk man your bus pass so he can get home. Loving the smell of Febreze. The dream of paying off a mother’s debts. Just one pile. I fidget as I read them, tear up, rub my forehead. These stories, all […]

Whodunnit

It doesn’t matter who you are until it matters a lot. It doesn’t matter who that guy is until he’s Barack Obama. I saw an exhibit of paintings of Shakespeare. Without Shakespeare, I don’t know that I would be three dimensional, or require food and water. I know a lot of people feel that way. […]

Trees

I speak for the trees, although you would think we were enemies. Writers use a lot of trees. At this retreat center in Pennsylvania, some of the trees are labeled. Wearing name tags. I like that. It’s part of our uncomfortable relationship that I want to know them, but I don’t take the time, or […]

Drive

It was 2 am, and it was so foggy, I didn’t know to be afraid. I was driving maybe 45, and a truck behind me pushed me from behind, once, twice. Here was the luck: not a thing in front of me, I cruised to a stop and pulled over. And then: a cop was […]