Snakes

It took about nine months to dismantle and excavate the ruins of the twin towers. The people who cut that steel and drove those trucks are still walking around with the burden of memories. What they saw, smelled, and touched. It is the cleanup, the aftermath, the long, day by day, out of the spotlight, dangerous drudgery of facing death that haunts me. When the cameras had floated on to other stories, they were still cutting, digging.

Almost Like Being In Love

All week I’ve been smiling for no reason. Shrugging easily when I get irritated. Staying up too late and wearing my weariness lightly. I’m in love. With health care reform. This infatuation is cleaner than all my romantic falls. Every romantic love I’ve drunk has been laced with a touch of nerves. I don’t know […]

Paine ‘n’ McCain at the OK Corral

“We have it in our power to begin the world again.” –Thomas Paine “There will be no cooperation for the rest of the year.” –John McCain I just got back from the southwest, where I met and insulted a charming cowgirl. I expected Tombstone, Arizona to be sort of like Frontierland at Disneyland. Instead, we […]

Reforming

It was not easy to sit through the discussion. Maybe the cancer histories of various relatives were invoked. Maybe someone suggested that people who love European ways so much should go live there. I absolutely did not endorse Cuban dictatorships or mob-fueled economic revolutions.