Most read stories

they in that eternal room

922922 views00 comments00 favs

And while they sat and while we danced for them, they in that eternal room of theirs, illumined by late sunlight, or moonlight, (or the lamp in your bedroom,) our skin moistened with oils, glistening… each of us shining as we turned, emitting littl

step martyr

922922 views33 comments33 favs

my heartis a brokenstandpipefanningcity water cayenneacross sidewalksgutters ripple redover fast food bagsand cigarette buttsover the feetof priests and pit bullsover the handsof drunksand babiesand into the mouthsof ratsand raconteurs you never oughtadrink…

A Cloud of Words for Winter

922922 views1313 comments1515 favs

What I would say

Superman and the Best Vacuum Cleaner Salesman in New York City

922922 views22 comments00 favs

I remember driving to New York City the summer of 1964, just before I met you. That was the very first time I ever smoked a joint. In those days it was happy dope. We got high and everything seemed so funny! Those were the days! I drove into the city

Gecko

922922 views1212 comments77 favs

“Hrrumph!” was almost audible as she turned/ to sniff behind the chifferobe for fresh/ green trophies.

The Day I Got Fired From My Foundation Job

922922 views55 comments11 fav

But of course, I didn’t get the grant, so my day job in communications at Katzenfeld continued. It was the first job I got out of college. I had been there for over a year and my salary was less than my rent and student loans combined, so I had to keep my

Instructions for Assembly

922922 views55 comments44 favs

Please be advised to have at least 2 persons to assemble this unit Although it could take close to a dozen Always include at least 2 kibitzers Another 2 or 3 standing around sipping vodka martinis Be sure to have enough olives to go around And b

Hospital, or Depression III

922922 views88 comments55 favs

Yes sir, I confess there have been timeswhen I did not care how young the earth isor take pride in how she sprang back to greenregardless of how hard the snow fought.There have been times, yes, when I lacked the willto notice such things and knew that belowthe water's…

No More Ideas

922922 views22 comments11 fav

And then, one fateful day, the world ran out of ideas. The last one was gone, floating away like a balloon full of the helium we had already squandered.

Perils of Poetry in a Pandemic

921921 views2020 comments66 favs

...the bulk of poets are amateurs.

Dreams

921921 views1111 comments1010 favs

"Is a dream a lie if it don't come true, or is…

Like the Goats

921921 views2525 comments1010 favs

...

Five Stories From a Funeral

921921 views44 comments22 favs

1. Premonition “He had a premonition,” Agnes, the widow, said. “He said he was going to die.” “Ma,” Gregg said, “he always said he was going to die. He was the Fred Sanford of Central Ave.” “But this time it came…

You'll Miss Your Destiny If You Are Shy

921921 views22 comments11 fav

Okay, you want the truth? I was never that good with strange. It takes me awhile to warm up. And I’ve got to be attracted, somehow. Like with your eyes.

vast dance of the darling soul

921921 views44 comments11 fav

Was it only for the vast dance of the darling soul, that you were born? Not to give up your genetics? Made for the use of the future, were you? I should have known. I heard the wind that swirled within you, even then, when we were so young. You were

A Portraiture of Circling Back (or Why I Hate Fashist Assholes Like Mohandes Gandhi)

921921 views00 comments00 favs

"In the shit the dogs circle, talking of a dead bitch, maybe Merkel" - Michelangelo's poem of a stultified flower that never emulsifies, an orange California poppy of pink-gold drenched in urine and a horse in either burns bright whinnies and trollops neigh a pipping…

just one more time, God, I promise

920920 views00 comments00 favs

The last time I was with Terry, she surprised me by crossing herself just before we had sex. She too had been going out with this Mario pimp, with his ski boat out on Fox River. The guy who was going around sniffing after most (if not all) of my old gir

MIG Arrangement

920920 views88 comments55 favs

I do not think it good that you, any of you, know what I mean when I say “MIG arrangement.”

The Affair

920920 views00 comments00 favs

Mine lasted 90 days. But don't they all? After we made love the first time, it was early November, I remember, some internal part of me shot upward with a laughter that would not stop. Something…

Sparrow

920920 views22 comments22 favs

I don't care what my reincarnated self thinks about today. I'm already aware that everything stinks in the end. Well. It's supposed to. But all things must seek travel while they can. Dance while they can. Dream while they can. Laugh while they can.…

Let's Do It In the Mud

920920 views44 comments11 fav

Then I got another letter, but this time it was from my friend Andy, warning me that he’d seen Miller riding around with Lynda, driving her grandparent’s Dodge with Lynda sitting right up against his side, and his arm was around her. I saw red. I went

The Silent Service

920920 views00 comments00 favs

Anxiety masked.

Split Streams Displace the Final Helical Index

920920 views11 comment00 favs

Split streams displace a spliced and shattered walkman with no connection of its dead batteries, projected into Styrofoam and plastic mirrors before hitting the brook water. Michael finds way, out of breath, eclipsed by an elm, his eyes visible with pupil

Salesman

919919 views33 comments00 favs

A salesman, a born salesman like my brother, is always and only involved in the Moment, and it is the sale itself that is at the heart of the moment, and my brother Harris was really at the top of his form as a salesman. It can probably best be said, th

You Should Know

919919 views33 comments33 favs

Do you know how much it takes to holdthe spring you love against your lips? No angel, or I, will ever begrudge, nor the planets that have to slow their pace and stumble their orbits a degree behind to make the magic that keeps our grip. We could have been elephants…

Black Malibu

919919 views22 comments11 fav

The boys back in the rental office must be wondering why we haven’t left yet. Maybe they thought we just wanted to sit in the car and listen to music.

Celes' Most Important Question

919919 views00 comments00 favs

This was a word Celes had not ever heard before. "Ethics?" "Ethics is… Well, let me see how to put this." He put down his fork for a moment and thought before continuing. "Ethics is the study of the form of what is right and what is wrong."

Up at Night

919919 views00 comments00 favs

made of meat and born to breed

Show Talk

919919 views22 comments11 fav

Do you mind if we cut the attack on the settlers, asked Sitting Bull. But that’s the center attraction, said Buffalo Bill. Everyone expects it. But it’s a lie, a gross misrepresentation, said Sitting Bull. I feel like I am endorsing a great fraud.

Feb 4

919919 views22 comments22 favs

Walking with one giant dog and one tiny one, I didn’t feel at home, but I felt something better.