Doth God exact day-labour, light denied. (John Milton, 1608-1674) Everyone recognized Dr. Nelson. A political science professor at Southern Illinois University, the man was a campus fixture, kind and gentlemanly, impeccably dressed. We marveled at the dignity and ease with which he and his guide dog navigated the hilly, wooded campus. He was exotic, intriguing, … Read more
That scoundrel, man—he gets used to everything. Fyodor Dostoevsky Maybe the moon is full and bright and earth reveals bones, shallow graves in a shallow war. Maybe the moon’s light plays with the meek fire of men cramped beneath a bridge in Ohio as they watch gray chunks of ice float down … Read more
Their cell phones were still ringing. They were the EMT’s first words when hesitantly and anonymously telling his story to the local reporter. Working inside the hall he had been assigned a wet body, a hole where a breast should’ve been, and closed the victim’s still horrified eyes—a terrifying sight which had caused him to … Read more
"Have you heard the story of Gunny Joe? Who lived way down by the Kokomo? Aaaah, Gunny Joe!” Rob Rothstein bellowed the nonsensical rhyme at the top of his lungs, right in the middle of the sleazy donut place at 23rd Street and Eighth Avenue in Manhattan that he had entered to get away from … Read more
A Braided Essay Australian adult Cane Toads are heavily-built amphibians with dry warty skin. They have a bony head and bony ridges that meet above the nose and eyes. Large swellings – the parotoid glands – are located on each shoulder. All stages of the Cane Toad’s life-cycle are poisonous. The venom produced by the … Read more
Algammah considers this urhent massge apologize to Allah from all soles which will be gone no way during this severe facing Oh God wi are sed The call to jihad on the wall of Alexandria University of Egypt is a far cry from the fliers cheerfully exhorting, "Join Chess Club on Thursday!" or "Textbook … Read more
This morning I read Auden and his account of Icarus plunging into the apathetic sea, while I sat in a rocking chair sipping coffee cooled by milk that was nearing its expiration date. Auden has been dead for decades and the sea remains unimpressed by us all. Steve Brightman lives in Kent, OH, … Read more
Falling off at maturity falling out as soft baby teeth brown needles bicuspids brazen Antlers with their velvet loosened. Abscission sounds just like the thief nature made it, takes advantage of winter drought the sixth birthday. Pairs with gravity. Steals … Read more
Swim Lonely one, Curley head sinks rises up for air, water separates limbs, Arm over arm I swim. I need The Pills, have to be exact (the terrifying cost). I am a chemical cocktail, have no idea I am, But Monday morns I line up the … Read more
Love is the loose elevator cable, a hibernating bear, A juggler with fire torches, a blister before the skin rises With pus, a leaky shock on a heavy truck going downhill, A shovel before the hole’s been dug or the seeds planted, A heart monitor without any sound, a juggler with fire Torches and … Read more
after you’d gone our bodies uncoupled in the dark I lay in bed and started to think of things that are halved apples pears seeds and the knives that separate them I thought of doors half open half closed their wide unexpected swings into the middle of rooms how they halve distances I thought of … Read more
Minnesota. I am here, but how did that happen? Here is blue and green and white. Song in the air: whippoorwill by day, cricket by night. These are the things that matter most today. And I’ve been here since some once-upon-a-time January, when the frost first performed its wintry dance on my lenses … Read more
“Penn Station” “Gotcha” The passenger looked up to the second story of the brownstone building and pressed his window switch. As the tinted window lowered, his wife could be seen through the sun’s glare off the window of their second floor apartment. She held their daughter in front of her as she stood in … Read more
I. Hess Esser Lunch with Lucas Milas was, possibly, one of the worst ideas Hess had in a decade. The man said three sentences in an hour. And he ate a chicken breast. Nothing else. Hess could not even talk him into an illicit beer. And he … Read more
Today Claudette is wearing her pale blue suit with the power shoulders and extermination strength Happy in her quest to win the scent war with Red Jeans Ronnie down the hall. “Did you watch Obama last night on The Celebrity Apprentice?” She looms over my desk, having just greeted me with a few morning … Read more
She watched the end of her toes shuffle and appear alternately from under her long hijab. Everything looked blue from behind her veil. She held the blue in her mind and gathered it, pouring it down to her heart, beating hard, a bird caught in a trap. The dry heat of the desert, heavy, penetrating, … Read more
It happens faster than I can think: shadow, form of man, thrust of arm— My hand understands; flies to my chest while my mind straggles behind, stupidly stringing bits of fact, bone handle standing from my blouse, liquid warm against my fingers, purse vanished as if it never was. Understanding comes as the … Read more
“Hi, welcome to Taco Bell. Hope you’re having a nice day,” said the girl standing behind the counter. Her monotone voice so void of emotion it could have been computerized. “Define nice,” I answered, and looked around at all the colored plastic and brushed aluminum and wondered why this was what fast food corporations thought … Read more
My son heaves plywood on the line, where compressed air and staples two inches long find their rhyme: throw a board up staple back, whack, along paneling lines. Throw a board up stable back, whack. No words ever spoken. Stud walls swabbed with industrial glue waiting for nailers and screwgunners to echo and reverb. … Read more
Mixing Bowl * Mother sits in the middle of the linoleum, legs splayed, and cradled between her knees is a bowl. I walk past and familiar smells seep in: the mellow twang of cabbage, the sharp sulfur of onions, spicy red chili powder, aromatic garlic and something salty, like fish sauce. I ask my … Read more
