True Stories
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NORMAN SAVES THE DAY
Norman was a tall, soft-spoken, lanky, freckled-faced kid. I never knew Norman had a problem until Mr. Bell asked us to swap papers and I graded Norman’s pop quiz. I was shocked. Norman’s quiz was a mess of wrong answers shot through with grammatical and spelling errors. I was a just kid and had no… Continue reading
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ANT-MAN, MY SPIRIT ANIMAL
I watched Ant-Man. Scott Lang did the right thing, but in doing so, he earned a three-year sentence. He has a master’s degree, but no one will give him a chance. Continue reading
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FALLING UP
January 13, 2008 I cannot stare into a cloudless blue sky without a rattling in my stomach, because should I stare too long, I fear falling up and into the sky forever. It’s a silly fear. And many fears are silly, but silly or not there it is. Continue reading
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MONSTERS (NOT ROBOTS)
Ms. R. stormed into my life in 2005, rearranging the furniture in my brain. So I wrote this letter for her not knowing what she would think. And I let her see it before publishing it. She said it was sweet and the nicest thing anyone wrote for her—poor girl. for Rachel H. I know… Continue reading
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THE MAYAN CALENDAR AND THE ECONOMY OF LOVE
Last night I met someone for drinks. And as we walked down the strip from bar to bar, I asked if Frankfurter’s is still doing business—it’s a hot dog place near the college where I worked. Well it’s now a Cajun restaurant. I said in 2011 a co-worker and I were laughing about the Mayan… Continue reading
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GEORGE’S CRAZY DREAM
When he was alive, my dad and I always swapped stories about any of the many odd dreams we would dream. One morning he sat giggling to himself at the table. He told me he had the craziest dream and after he told me, I found it so funny that I wrote it down for… Continue reading
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APOCRYPHA (A POEM)
One Sunday as a child, I sat in church listening to our pastor deliver a sermon on the Last Judgement. Being a kid with an active imagination, I envisioned angels using TVs to show sinners our sins. In the Anglo-Saxon tradition of poetry, poets used cadence rather than rhyme to weave their spell. These poets… Continue reading
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OH, SNAP!
A highway in Strange Loop, Texas—while driving home today, I hit upon what I believed was a bright idea and instantly snapped my fingers. Then I caught myself and asked aloud, “I wonder who first thought to finger snap when hitting upon a bright idea?” And as my car hugged the curvature of space and… Continue reading
MARTIAN DEATH RAY 