On My Way To Yes
“Did Joe Biden win the 2020 election?”He bit his lip and stammered and finally smiled and said, “Well, clearly, Joe Biden is the President, so-”“Please, that’s not what I asked you. The question...
View ArticleHopscotch and Jumprope
I walked out onto the playground, seeing the kids playing individually and in groups. The sawdust underfoot was frozen into a solid mass, the chunks on the surface frosted decoratively where they...
View ArticleThe Intricate Pattern In The Years
“I’m always going back to foolish, embarrassing or shameful things I did long ago and dwelling on them endlessly, even if they’re things no-one but me remembers.”“Ugh, I know just what you mean. I...
View ArticleA Goulash Stew
Jeremy pulled a bag of tomatoes out of the refrigerator and handed it to me.“Cut these up into small bits, okay? Don’t put them in, um…put them in a bowl, so I can put them in later, you know?”I took...
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Let The Ripples Take MeI wasn’t sure what had happened. One moment I had been in the middle of a loud, cheerful party, full of celebration and cheerful talk, and then I’d been in the middle of a dark,...
View ArticleYou Were Wild And Gentle
My lovely creatures, how I wish things had been easier for you. You came into this world at such a difficult time. We were in the middle of such a difficult period, trying to survive a crisis we had...
View ArticleMy Son Is In The Hospital
When I answered the robocall, I wasn't sure whether the call saying "a family member" was hospitalized was genuine or not. Instead of calling the number provided, I looked up OHSU online. Yes, it was...
View ArticleWhich Is Why We Have Songs Of Praise
"Life isn’t easy and straightforward. It’s full of challenges and difficulties. Trouble will come to us uninvited and without warning. Man is prone to trouble as sparks are to fly upward, and under...
View ArticleAnd Numberless Blades of Grass
The editor looked at the painting, which showed an astronaut walking toward a spaceship, with a trail of discarded objects behind him, representing parts of his life which he had discarded on his way...
View ArticleYou Have Permission To Dance
I climbed off the table slowly and carefully.“Are you in any pain?”“I’m waiting for something to begin to hurt, but so far, nothing does. That’s miraculous, but also kind of…eerie, considering what...
View ArticleIt Was After Dinner
I was washing the dishes, thinking over my options for the rest of the evening, when I was suddenly struck with an appalling feeling that I didn’t like any of them. That I hadn’t really liked any of...
View ArticleThe World Needs You
Gaea was holding out both hands imploringly, rather than Uncle Sam’s commanding finger in the “I Want You” poster, but this poster’s meaning was just as emphatic, and just as manipulative. It was a...
View ArticleThe Questions You Might Want To Ask
“Hello, Amy, can you hear me?”“Um…yes?”“That’s good. My name is George, and I’m here to help you. Are you comfortable right now? Is my voice too loud or too soft, for instance?”“No, it’s fine. I’m . ....
View ArticleChoir of One
“He really does have a beautiful singing voice, doesn’t he?” my wife said as Fly Me to the Moonended.“Who is it?”“Are you kidding? It’s Vic Makropolus. Haven’t you ever heard him before?”She picked up...
View ArticleThe Various Faces of the Moon
"You used to only see one face of it.""That idea is really difficult to grasp. I'm so used to seeing all sides of it night after night.""Yes, well, you're used to seeing it with water and plants on it,...
View ArticleStill Singing Through
“Some days, I really can feel her,” I said as I dug my hoe’s tines through the dirt, pulling morning glories from around the roots of the pea vines.“Feel whom?” Glory asked, not looking up from her...
View ArticleHow Will I Hide?
“It’s funny. Have you ever read the original story, Strange Case of Doctor Jekyll and Mister Hyde?”“The original? By Stevenson? No, I guess I haven’t.”“It’s funny. The original story doesn’t have...
View ArticleI Wonder If I Will Miss
“I wonder if I will miss my headaches.”“What?”“Stranger things have happened. There’s a familiarity to the ritual of feeling the pain begin to gather, of taking my pills, of going through my routine,...
View ArticleIn Season
“…in season or out of season“Stand up and back him in all men’s sight, with that for his only reason.“Nine hundred and ninety-nine can’t bide“The shame or the mocking or laughter“But the thousandth...
View Article"When The Wind And Light Are Working Off Each Other"
“Oh, I love it when the wind shakes the trees this way.”I paused to look at the row of trees as they shook in the wind. Each of them three or four storeys tall, their branches were shaking wildly,...
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