Up and Away

Four people whipped around the moon. The module was slightly different. It felt bad to feel good about a weak imitation of something humans had figured out how to do, and done, two generations ago. Still, I set my phone to the NASA youtube channel and let the feed feed me. The minutes when they […]

Professor Thaddeus Lowe’s Hydrogen Balloon

UP Blow it up, Professor Lowe. Blow it full, let it puff up, over the rim, higher than all walls, all churches, all hills Sulfuric acid and iron could make buoyancy as joyful as Mary Poppins’ ceiling tea party as goofy as Charlie, pre-burp, bobbing up, up, full of carbonation, pre-fan that will chop you […]

training day

We sat in the pews and looked forward. There were nerves fluttering in the air, though there was no need for fear. Right? Three men strode into the sanctuary and called out, “We’re looking for Jennifer!” I was told, at a Holocaust teaching training, not to ask students, what would you do? What would you […]

March in February

We were reading a science fiction story in which the people do not eat real food, but only some kind of artificial goo. “That’s like what my cousin had,” a student said. “She was out of her mind and drank drain cleaner, so they had to feed her through a tube.” “Whoa,” I said. “That’s […]