Most read stories

Parts 2 Through 5 of a piece called Wilderness of Humanity, or, We Can Always Clean This Thing Up Again

19551955 views77 comments66 favs

2. humility You know what silly does? Silly guarantees that you will enjoy the moment as the moment for the moment. Clowns make fun of silly. Isn't that ironic? They are in essence the opposite of their own image. That's why so many people see them as evil--because you…

Visiting Sally

19551955 views1818 comments1717 favs

Buddy was in a garage band. They were pretty good. “Soul Harbor“ they called themselves.

Jorge Curioso Flies a Plane

19551955 views66 comments55 favs

This is Jorge. He was a good little monkey. And always curious.Like the time he and his friend, the man in the amarillo sombrero, had to fly to Japan. *Jorge sat by the window. Watched the ground get further away. Until they were above the clouds. He looked out…

The Child Who Loved Emily Dickinson

19551955 views00 comments00 favs

Until it happens to you, and I hope, and you should pray, that it never does, you cannot appreciate the consolation of believing that your are merely losing your mind.

City of Masks

19551955 views88 comments55 favs

"There is something in the air. It makes people sick, makes them want to die. They cannot inhale too deeply for fear that it will turn them mad."

Flowers for Our Dead Lovers

19551955 views11 comment11 fav

We brought flowers for our dead lovers

Myra's Lesson

19551955 views33 comments11 fav

There’s no training course available for kids in love. You can watch your parents, you can watch other kids, but for the most part it’s all trial and error, and I'm still pretty shaky at almost all of it.

Novembering

19551955 views2929 comments1313 favs

Cinnamon and smoke infuse the days that shorten, chill, accelerate.

Misunderstood

19541954 views1515 comments1212 favs

Leonard didn't know that cute girl well, hardly at all, but he really wanted to. She was his first real crush in Junior High. He got his chance and talked to her some one day while they were walking down the hall between classes. She actually spoke to him first. The bell…

The Queue

19541954 views22 comments11 fav

She persisted. “How long have we been here?” A note of anger crept into his voice. “How long? How long? Why …, why ….” He swallowed hard, realized he had forgotten.

Fruits of Passion

19541954 views44 comments00 favs

Lifting a pear wedge to my lips, I hesitate and dip it into my bourbon instead. I notice a tiny sphere of liquid, suspended, glistening with the flame of the candle. The sweet, subtle scent tantalizes my senses. Careless, sticky fingers bring movement.…

Filth and Splendor: A Love Story

19541954 views00 comments00 favs

Solomon just makes people leak. Literally.

RailRoads

19541954 views22 comments00 favs

We all have friends that would drop everything to save us. It’s the times we don’t need help that they’re not nearly as attentive.

A man with bleeding hands

19541954 views55 comments44 favs

A man with bleeding hands at the back door of Out of the Closet this morning asked me for the bride and groom figurines at the top of my donation box

Flicking On Some Trees, Just To See Your Silly Grin in the Half-Light of the Moon

19541954 views1111 comments77 favs

The world knows how to make you smile. I'm certain, but it's your own unique grin that they want for themselves. It's always been their perfect prize to horde. The trouble of course comes from wanting something that only exists in…

Trombones and Figs

19531953 views1717 comments1010 favs

“What are you doing, Maestro?"

Borges in the SUB

19531953 views2121 comments88 favs

"There's Borges."

Made in Japan

19531953 views1717 comments44 favs

It was in the spring of 1958 when I first arrived in Kobe, Japan, traveling aboard a Norwegian merchant ship, looking to make movies on a limited budget. Superior quality cameras, lenses, and film were being produced in Japan at a fraction of the cost for similar products…

A Thousand Books

19531953 views1212 comments1212 favs

I gave away 1000 books.

Hurricane Shutters

19531953 views44 comments66 favs

The thing that really gets you about the house is the hurricane shutters. They're up already, even though it's the end of May, because Buck's uncle is back in Rhode Island for the summer and he's prepped the house on Key Largo like Armageddon is coming.

Three: A Heavenly Mansion

19531953 views33 comments33 favs

She went up first, I followed, a respectful three paces behind. Now, I know what you’re thinking: I was perfectly placed to steal a quick, if innocent, glance, and she would never see. The house is a center hall colonial, and there are no mirrors on the s

Cucumbertini

19531953 views44 comments22 favs

“Really? And you write…?” asked her breasts in the black dress, making excellent eye contact. He smiled at them.

The Bird, The Snake, and Me

19531953 views99 comments44 favs

The truth about the bird and the snake is this. They are dead. And me? I cannot stop thinking about them.

December 17

19521952 views66 comments66 favs

When she finally arrived it was like a cello playing inside me

Clicking

19521952 views00 comments00 favs

Reining her small hands around the molded handle grips, her bottom bouncing athwart and wildly off the seat, Symphony wrenches her center of gravity inward, commandeering as much control from the road it would allow. With her breaks behaving as stubborn

mnemonic haiku

19521952 views77 comments55 favs

skies electric blue,/limpid dewy air, the world/framed by a small farm.

Trees Today

19521952 views1414 comments1010 favs

are my only real friends. They don't seem to mind my shuffling down the dirty sidewalks without acknowledging their mere scraggly presences like friendly tombstones. They are growing their hair out again. I've noticed that much. We've got a…

Bonne Fire

19521952 views55 comments22 favs

And the voodoo pins pinged as, folding and imploding, she was reduced to a petro-chemical puddle.

Hot Dog Hot Dog

19521952 views44 comments44 favs

A man on the sidewalk dressed as a hot dog hits a triangle dinner bell with a clang and yells for everyone to come and eat at Hot Dog Hot Dog. We were feeling more like fish and chips or spicy pulled pork, but there's something about how…

Rear View

19521952 views1010 comments1111 favs

The man of a thousand faces was defunct.