At about 2 a.m., my life partner, Tim, smelled smoke. Our main source of heat is a wood stove. He went outside and looked at the chimney, smoking lightly as it should be. He checked the exterior walls near the chimney for signs of heat. Nothing. There was a faint curl of smoke where the […]
creative nonfiction
Dos and Don’ts During the Loooong Primary Season
We are moving closer and closer to the kickoff of the 2020 election. This seems almost unbelievable because I am not sure all of us have recovered from 2016. So far, A LOT of candidates are jumping in feet first. In all likelihood, you’re going to have several friends, family members, and/or co-workers planning to […]
The Thing About Friendships
Is meaningful ones can be hard to come by, and they take work if they are to remain meaningful for any extended period of time. Me, I live in the boondocks. On a lake. There are eagles and beavers. Lots of trees. Deer. It’s beautiful here, but it’s also very rural and, for the most […]
The Thing About Birthdays
It’s my birthday, but the clouds are offended again because of something I’ve said or thought. Their bellies are full of dark-sick, gauzy vomit, pushing away the sky which doesn’t remember I’m nine today. People are talking about the moon, how there are men on it for the first time, but people have told me […]
Glass Boys
I’m an old man now, but I was a boy once, and I saw things—adults with backward rollercoaster eyes, muddy backhoe faces, steel wool fingers, javelin forearms that could tack anything they wanted to a wall, a floorboard, a bed board, or a rusty bedspring creaking for rescue. I was a glass boy then, blown […]
Red Square, a Cookie, and Bukowski
Out the window spreads the neighborhood where Behemoth wandered. From this vantage point above I witness nightfall across Patriarch Ponds. Sunlight is gradually replaced by the street lamps, twinkling candles on cafe verandas, and the dim glow of cigarettes. This cozy neighborhood is as much Russian as it is European, if not for the Cyrillic signage […]
