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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…
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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.…
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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…
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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…
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BENSON
The thing about a name is it won’t fit at first. The letters won’t settle around your shoulders until your muscles begin to fill in, until your bones have grown thicker and they can support the serifs of the appellative sounds. You’ll walk around and, at first, the name will slip off your feet; maybe…
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A SIDE-EFFECT OF RAGE
DRIVER 1 The music bounces in syncopation with the shocks. It’s the kind of van that would give even a joey motion sickness, and really no one should be driving it, much less a distracted father trying to do the right thing for once. But he’s trying to do the right thing for once. That’s,…
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fully
The sun had set and darkness hovered over the city. Yet, the people of Jerusalem hardly noticed. The torch light was enough. The light of the sun, though useful, was not necessary. So, darkness settled lower, sinking deeper into the bones of the city and the souls of its citizens. Meanwhile, Jesus and his disciples…
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the boy in the belly of the beast
Mary was nervous, but Elizabeth was confident she had seen Jesus with John. She said she saw them running ahead of the caravan, exploring as usual, blazing a trail ahead of the rest of them. So, Mary swallowed her worry and her instincts, and she began preparing for the journey home. The boys always took…
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you can still be sad
Sometimes things can get really bad. I should know. I mean, I died. Twice. And you know, when I was reclining in my own waste and breathing my last (well…first last) breaths, I kept fighting the urge to cry. I pressed it down inside my stomach, held a fist against my belly, told my gut…
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thru
I remember the parched lips. Cracking over jagged teeth. Faces of the veritable vision of parasitic thirst. I remember moving slowly through the mob, trying to catch snippets of side conversations. I wanted to know what they thought of him. I moved sideways, eyes up front, ears everywhere else. I heard the frequent gasps of…