What Should Not be Said

In the interest of fitting into polite society, I was given a list of what I could not say. Seventeen pages single spaced. Not vulgar things. Things that might cause thoughtful pain. I ate the list as if it was communion bread. For years I was nourished by forbidden...

Helping the Poor

I went to help the poor. Free food was to be given out. I was to help give it. Many were in line. Outside the wall of a church. The truck with food was to arrive at nine. It was ten. The truck with food was to arrive at ten. It was eleven. It was noon when the truck...

“Breaking Bad”

I am sitting on a bench looking at nature, as if the park is a museum of preserved things and nature is an object ‘d art for me to enjoy. A nasal tickle causes me to sneeze. A quick wind rushes against the world. I recall the metaphoric ‘butterfly effect’, the theory...

The Way It’s Supposed to Be

Her coffee cup is blue. My coffee cup is red. Her cup goes on the right side of the cupboard, handle pointed forward. My cup goes on the left side of the cupboard, handle pointed right. There must be reasons for this ceramic configuration. I don’t remember what they...