Most read stories

A Sonnet for Anna

21702170 views3030 comments2020 favs

Toting a sawed-off shotgun at the altar

Worst Case Scenario

21692169 views1111 comments66 favs

The voices he hears are God and the Devil and he knows the difference. Therefore, he is not mentally ill.

The bridge

21692169 views1919 comments1515 favs

as long as you have some snacks up there I can be brave

HOMELESS OUTSIDE THE CHURCH

21692169 views1010 comments1010 favs

Only the occasional kindness of a stranger,// The curve of his back, a slope rushing past me,// Is luminous, the coin pressed in my hand . . .//// And yes, I beg.//// I open my palm// As Jesus did.//

Locked in a Small-Town Cage with My Superheroes, and Having No Way to Get an MFA... (Memoir)

21692169 views44 comments33 favs

...I grew up in a provincial town which at the time had no bookstore and no library — no library even at school...

December 15, 2012

21692169 views77 comments33 favs

Already, I can see that, whenever Harold moves, some of his soul escapes, like an accidental exhalation, like breath on powder.

The Phantom

21682168 views44 comments11 fav

Approaching the kitchen from the foyer the reverb lessened until heel and floor where flint on flint. No spark was made.

The Massacre

21682168 views55 comments55 favs

 …

Breadfruit

21682168 views88 comments44 favs

... we both know how we go to fresh air like fish, gasping.

wanna be a cowboy?

21682168 views1616 comments1313 favs

no one likes a bitchy cowboyhike up yer britchespull yer brim down'nshut up and ridestop making petsout of peevesand idolsout of gossipinsteadmake a hobbyout of yer horseand fer godsakesseason that saddle

Papa's Parrot

21682168 views33 comments22 favs

He wasn’t there for the beginning or the end. In the beginning, he was still a wild thing. Nothing more than a voice in the chorus of the Dark Continent, back when it was a thing of terrible beauty and attracted people like the old man; people who breathe

Boy Toy

21672167 views1616 comments99 favs

Sometimes you can't sleep.

Little Pi.ec.es

21662166 views1010 comments55 favs

I scare my daughter when she sleeps because she thinks I'm going to kill her.

Arturo + Lourdes, 2005 and 4ever

21662166 views44 comments22 favs

Here’s the story as compiled from the scantest of clues: The writing on the back of a stall door in the restroom of a twenty-four hour restaurant under the Gowanus Expressway.

John Lennon Slept Here (Or Was It Ringo?)

21662166 views22 comments22 favs

Why is the ghost of John Lennon haunting a house in rural Oregon?

The Zilch Belches Out Its Own National Anthem To the Trendy Crowds

21652165 views2525 comments55 favs

" Not a day goes by/ that isn't stabbed with common sorrow"--Maurice Manning Crazy's alright by me if it's a harmless plea for some little sanity, or unavoidable by birth but it just won't do for tricks. Like say I go over there right…

Heart Line

21652165 views2424 comments1010 favs

One sunny morning, a big-bellied ball of yellow fur surveyed a yard full of prospective adopters and ran straight to one. She’d been chosen.

Improbable Bodies

21652165 views2020 comments66 favs

The book has known many women’s hands, something erotic and frequently checked out from our local library. Its cover depicts a man and a woman, both with improbable if not impossible bodies. I believe the term is bodice-ripper.

The Words Fall Into Ash

21652165 views1313 comments33 favs

The two were huddled in a corner of an alley, joined by some others that I’m sure wandered into the darkness when they realized they were far from alone. That alley was the one off Market Street. I used to steal candy from the corner shop when I was nin

The Stick

21652165 views44 comments22 favs

When you finally got blood from the hard stick You spotted the backflash of red And said Thank God. The woman’s legs and arms Were everywhere, and you were in the middle Holding her down with one hand while wielding A butterfly in the other. You stuc

Looney Tunes

21642164 views66 comments44 favs

I put my arms around her and whisper to her while she plays the piano. She wiggles and tells me to stop it.

Sheer

21642164 views22 comments22 favs

That's when we struggle, got it? Right there on the floor. It's not the brawl of the century, and I'm not the pilot who delivers the Enola Gay.

Sad News

21642164 views00 comments00 favs

They got out wearing their crisp brown Army jackets and khaki pants; she saw the cross on the lapel of the officer's shirt and just knew. These men brought sad news from faraway places.

What Literary Rejection Letters Would Mean In The Real World

21642164 views88 comments55 favs

I ask for your patience with this form message, as it is part of a system that ensures every submissive ex lover is considered separately, since I am involved in a lot of anonymous sex.

Bus

21642164 views55 comments44 favs

You can’t take a chandelier on an emergency dash across a nuclear desert.

The Clique

21642164 views00 comments00 favs

On the other side of the world the Moon spun on its way.

About My Dad

21642164 views88 comments22 favs

My dad drove a Model A Roadster and had a photo taken of him on a hunting trip up in Wisconsin with one leather boot up on the running board and a .22 caliber pistol in his hand like Ernest Hemingway and Clark Gable rolled into one My dad ro

How to Make an Atom Bomb While Your Wife's Away

21642164 views11 comment11 fav

I rummage around to see which of our many countertop appliances might do the trick. Yogurt maker? No, I need something with more muscle. The Cuisinart--just the thing! I pick through the detachable blades—where’s the isotope shredder?

20 Things I Learned about Norman Rockwell from "American Mirror, The Life and Art of Norman Rockwell"

21642164 views88 comments66 favs

His middle name was Perceval. He judged the first Miss America contest in 1922. He saw himself primarily as a storyteller in the Dickensian mode.He claimed to be an illustrator rather than an artist. He disliked driving but loved to walk, and preferred…

The Perils of Open Hand

21642164 views22 comments22 favs

There are worse things than getting your ass kicked by a 12 year old Puerto Rican kid. This was exactly my thinking as he stood over me, his pre-pubescent screams sounding like a baby Bruce Lee, preparing to finish me off.