-
A CHRISTMAS MIRACLE
the family // pre-miracle ‘Twas the night. That means dark. That means smoldering embers in the ashtray. That means alien glow of the late night news flickering off the ceiling. That means more questions than answers in a room full of empty. And the glass coffee table stained and telling. Crumbs scattered, uncharted constellations shimmering…
-
knees
Knees upon earth. Knees upon cobblestones. Knees upon cold, ceramic tiles and carpets and knees upon the rocky banks of a trickling creek. Knees upon hopes and dreams. Knees upon grassy knolls and knees upon snow, cold and wishing. Knees upon concrete. Knees upon hospital linoleum. Knees upon the torn battlefields of love and war…
-
DEAR MATTHEW
in conversation with my mind • after reading Piranesi Dear Matthew, Your face has returned, without its familiarity. I held your hands six weeks ago, and I felt only the coldest kind of history coursing underneath your marble skin: apathy. Do you wear this stone identity in mourning for your precious statues? A time to…
-
CONCRETE
Zodiac lived in a concrete world. And so did everybody else. His teachers told him, “That’s the thing about concrete.” He asked, “What’s the thing?” And they shrugged because they didn’t actually know. But Zodiac had a feeling. He had a fleeting thought of a feeling. He had the suspicion of a fleeting thought of…
-
a neighbor
Sometimes when Jesus told stories, Peter closed his eyes. Time slowed down. The story came with images in his mind. The man lost consciousness when they broke his arm. At first, he thought he might be able to talk his way out of it. Before they broke his arm. He thought maybe he could just…
-
A BETTER FATE
Sophie stirred her coffee. It was pretty bad. Behind her, hundreds of the desperate and decaffeinated regulars crashed in and out of the café. Below her, over the railing, she could watch the frantic rat race of central station. She wasn’t really watching though. Her focus had drifted a while ago. She was in that…
-
the grass is green
Five thousand empty faces. Seven thousand, maybe eight. Faces without expression. Faces lacking desire, void of intent, tilting toward collapse outside the city. “Can’t you see the people are hungry?” Ten thousand absent eyes. More. I whisper heavy lies into gaping ears. It’s too easy. The words just tumble in – down the drain, into…
-
THE CLOUD AND THE SUN AND THE BOY
A long, long time ago there was a cloud. Just the one. It floated above the people of the world, back and forth, and the people waved. That was about all the interaction the cloud had with the human people. Or with any kind of people for that matter. You see, the cloud was alone.…
-
passing intentions
Moses was not even ready. And I mean not even close. Picture my dude shuddering behind the boulder where God put him – and the Fear is all like, Buddy, you don’t have a clue. Just. You. Wait. Picture Moses kind of wide-eyed (like the proverbial deer) and thin-lipped (you know, the kind of smile that…
-
lover / beloved
For Maryam, it was, at first, something in his eyes. When he touched her with the knowing in them. Out of time. That’s how she felt when he looked at her. Timeless. And it was his eyes that did that to her, lifted her out of the burgeoning insecurities of her late adolescence, those few…