At a late early hourI fizzled out of sheets;covers seemed drapedover a body lazily as if to say,“He may or may not rise again”To the carpet, to the floorto the drooping brass handle on the doorI turned the knob with a firm gripand heard a noise like this:saxophone scream and squealshredding like claws of steelor... Continue Reading →
It’s usually a three-hour drive back home from Chapel Hill, but today it feels even longer. Bright rays of morning sun beam through my car door window, the heat warm on my face despite the cold November weather outside. I try to focus on the road, on the radio, on the billboards lining the highway.... Continue Reading →
O haven’t we been something,we Gracies and Joans, Williesand Bobs baring our hearts,entreating all to feel, imagine—our youths crossing the stage,steps by hope kindled, voicesringing, the blush of our lipsunveiling passions within us.Supple, rebellious years—O Otis, O Nina,O Janis, Jimi, and Kurt,didn’t we take our shot at life,love hard, make a difference.Weren’t we always where... Continue Reading →
Like a surgeon wielding a scalpel,she excised potato eyes like tumors,snaked long peels from the mealy flesh—her eyes scarcely glancing at her hands.Potatoes proved her passport to community.She grew and sold them to the grocers,provided them cheesy or dumplingedfor all the functions her church ladies catered,and hosted for holidays family and friends.She spoke as she... Continue Reading →
To see these multitudinous children of the sunfrolicking upon my shaggy yard, their yellow-plumed heads lifting, bobbing, surely summoningthe scurry of nectar-craving bees,brings welcome cheer as they broadcastwholesome news of warmth, soil and water—countering the crusty worries everlooming at day’s gray horizons.Undaunted by the haughty tulips and iris,boldly they lay their seasonal claim,scoffing at arbitrary... Continue Reading →
O haven’t we been something,we Gracies and Joans, Williesand Bobs baring our hearts,entreating all to feel, imagine—our youths crossing the stage,steps by hope kindled, voicesringing, the blush of our lipsunveiling passions within us.Supple, rebellious years—O Otis, O Nina,O Janis, Jimi, and Kurt,didn’t we take our shot at life,love hard, make a difference.Weren’t we always where... Continue Reading →
