Most read stories

The Nude Pianist: A Novel: Chapter 42

10621062 views44 comments22 favs

If I start getting rambunctious, put me in a cab.

American Soul

10621062 views22 comments11 fav

At one time it appeared that Everyone was walking their own angel On a leash, but Now we're not that sure at all And it could come out in song That it might really be the angels Who’ve been walking us All along All this broken glass

and now for the news ...

10621062 views11 comment00 favs

nope. no excerpt for you.

deserts wept freely over you

10621062 views77 comments33 favs

You had that quietness by nature (unusual in men) that I was attracted to. You were like some body of water, wide and more spiritual than anyone I knew. You could have taken me with you when you flew. I know you were more like a bird than any of the oth

Cache

10621062 views11 comment11 fav

Could I cache your kisses?

The Passing of Odd Fellows ---- Tales From the IV

10621062 views22 comments11 fav

The appointed day came without much fanfare. The day was gloomy, but it would do. They climbed to the roof of the house to a small landing where Smiley placed the tiny piano stool smack dab in the middle. As soon as Ethan sat down Smiley rotated the chair

Four More Haikus

10621062 views55 comments00 favs

Death is like a warmcup of hot cocoa, steamingup into nothing. The sun rise will bringprison bars of light through thebedroom blinds again. Sorry about thefirst three hours of your deathI thought you were drunk. Across the park thestrange dog looks…

The Serendipitous Nature of Being

10621062 views22 comments11 fav

To do the proper set up for the story, it was taking me some time, but each bit was important to the outcome, and while he likened me to Higgens on the old Magnum P.I. series, I just laughed at his slowly closing eyes and folded arm, caught in a half cur

Flying the Potty-Mouthed Skies

10621062 views00 comments00 favs

People think being the best-selling author of the Pokey Little Bunny™ series of children’s books is nothing but cream-filled cupcakes, but they’re wrong.

Quit Complaining, Willya!

10611061 views00 comments00 favs

"You think life is supposed to be easy? Whoever told you that? My life is anything but easy; still you don't hear me whining all over the place. And, trust me, I could teach you a thing or two about suffering.

Corpses

10611061 views66 comments00 favs

It was not my intent to be nosy. I just wanted to be the best neighbor I could be. Having never had anyone close growing up, I wanted to get involved and be a part of my community, such as it was. My only neigbhor was Edna Phelps. She was one…

BARCELONA CON AMORE

10611061 views11 comment11 fav

The fog drifted in, wreathing the woman in undulate shadows as kleigs danced in wind and ships moaned. Souchet had come through the Barrio Chino to stand on the pier at the hour when dead cease their ramblings and sleep.…

.38

10611061 views22 comments22 favs

His name was Gino. I’ll leave out the last name, not that I think it matters anymore. He came into my dad’s gas station on the near North side of Chicago to have work done on his fancy car. I was still a teenager. I accidentally opened the glove compartme

A Hundred Feet

10611061 views22 comments11 fav

Why I roamed these flats, choir-Like floors of a century forgivenAnd wedded in an XXL gownIs beyond us. Give me something extra, please. This Town rides in like a school bus.

Never

10611061 views00 comments00 favs

When a woman dies too young, Say at 42, Her bones broken, Her body bruised Beyond recognition Much less repair; When she dies Thrashing In the street Amid rainbow-hued pools Of water and gasoline And blood, Anointed on a bed Of broken glass In a…

The Little Engine That Shouldn't (a political metaphor)

10611061 views00 comments00 favs

The rings on the engine Not designed for race gas Did allow for some seepage Did allow fuel to pass The fumes were quite powerful To the pan they did charge The spark was quite forceful The explosion was large

Getting There

10611061 views00 comments00 favs

Her light blue eyes fixed on a point to our left, past one of the church steeples poking out of the flat, charred ground – like a toothpick protecting a birthday cake from its cellophane ceiling; an untouched bethesda keeping the never-blue sky from crash

de gustibus non disputandum

10611061 views33 comments00 favs

those darn kids

Lineage

10611061 views11 comment11 fav

the arc of her invective presumably aimed at the little boy and girl ambling halfway down the block behind her

FIREWORKS

10611061 views22 comments00 favs

It's eight fifteen in the morning, my favorite time to call, and a guy named Ernie DeCampo answers the door in his work pants and a t-shirt. “Good morning, Mr.De Campo,” I say. “Do you have any fireworks in your home?” …

Condimental

10611061 views00 comments00 favs

"Excuse me, ma'am? You wanted the mayonnaise on the side, right?"No one ever called her ma'am again.

Book of Mountains

10611061 views00 comments11 fav

Headsets screaming with suburban boredom

Misanthropy in an Age of Propaganda

10611061 views66 comments33 favs

We have become// the sum of our appetites,/ the growth curve of our dominion.

The Old Man (The End)

10601060 views00 comments00 favs

The dark staircase creaked as he crept down to the basement. The even whoosh-whoosh of the washing machine was comforting to him. He reached for the light as he entered the room. A dim bulb blinked on above him. There was a small table across the room f

Because the night

10601060 views00 comments00 favs

I glance back over my shoulder as you fumble with the keys. Repeatedly. You swear a little under your breath. You finally locate the proper one and the large door swings open. I hold it as you run over to the alarm keypad. You punch in the code written on a…

Tonschmerz

10601060 views66 comments66 favs

Deists try to prove the existence of God. I do not doubt God nor evidence of the existence of Jesus nor Jesus' miracles. I merely wish there were more people like him

Blackout

10601060 views22 comments00 favs

forsake glass; structure; light; the impermanence of here, or there, or you, or i.

A Story About A.Who Wants to Be An Entrepreneur

10601060 views22 comments11 fav

A. wants to be an entrepreneur but cannot get with the program.

the furrows running with milk light

10601060 views22 comments11 fav

I remember the first time you made love to me. It appears I was one of the lucky ones … it wasn’t in a car, it wasn’t in your Dad’s boat, underwater, or any other weird place you've written about. It was actually in your bedroom … in a bed! And how

Enemies Are Taken Care Of?

10601060 views22 comments00 favs

A waiter at the café was saying “I’m opening the curtain here behind your back Is that okay?” “Go ahead,” I told him. “It’s all right” “Enemies are taken care of?” “They already got everything,” I said Suddenly both of us were laughi