The boy in the browning field Does not see the scattering Of crabgrass, sunflowers, or tumbleweed. He does not smell the lavender or the dull decay of a coyote kill. He does not remember the rusty beer cans He kicked off the dirt path To arrive here at this intersection. He stoops Watching a black beetle Carry a green blade Across the expanse. He does not hear the hiss and
Bathroom, Restroom, Lavatory, The Facilities, The John, The Loo, Little Girl’s Room, The Latrine, The Crapper…Why are there so many different names for this common place that all humans go to regularly? At some time in the past a bathroom was just that – a room that contained a bathtub, which was the centerpiece, the dominant structure, maybe the only structure. The process of bathing was long and laborious. Water
I Long before the Great Rains of Radiation, the people had divided into two races: the Hunters and the Heavyheads. The Hunters were a tall, handsome people – outgoing, fun loving, and athletic. They shunned the Heavyheads, pointing to their large ears, orb-like eyes, short bodies, slow feet, and their preoccupation with meditative arts as proof of their abnormality. The Hunters’ children were forbidden from playing with Heavyhead children for
The body lay in the creek amid the swirling and sloshing of broken sticks and plastic bottles that had accumulated between two large rocks. There was no blood, no sign of foul play – just the body of an older white or Hispanic male in a brown jacket, underdressed for the mid-March weather. He lay face down, caressed by the swirling eddies of the mountain snow-melt currents. Crouching down into
I “I want to know once and for all who did this to me!” hollered Hugh Jackson III, waving his stubbed hands dramatically for all to witness (and seeming to startle himself more than the rest of us). This was the climax of a speech he had prepared for me and the local policemen on the morning of my arrival in New Iberia. I had come to investigate a six-month
Ever since “liberal” became a bad word in America, there has been a growing tendency to pass judgment on other people by using this four-word zinger: “Everybody has a choice.” This is to say that no matter what situation one finds oneself in, there is always a right or wrong response, and if one chooses the wrong response, then, well, that person must take responsibility for his or her actions.
