Stories
Webster’s defines story as the telling of a happening or connected series of happenings, whether true or fictitious.
I have my own definition. A story is any recollection/telling, mental or verbal, of an event. Even true stories are ‘made up’ because they are never related in the ‘moment to moment’ experience. 5 people will relate an event from their own perspective.
My stories are all made up, just as yours are. We create, accept and choose to believe them as truth or not.
My stories follow.
Questions
How can we go up, while the movement outside the window is going down? Dad and Ma and us four(at the time) kids had lugged the heavy suitcases through the snow, to our new home. We pushed through the heavy green outside door,. Ma pushed a gold button on the lobby...
Over the Rainbow
Over the Rainbow My friend said to write a piece titled 'Over the Rainbow'.My mind enclosed those words like a Venus Fly Trap and that was almost end of story. I bristled when first seeing her words. Don't know why. Maybe this! Rainbows were once beautiful happenings...
Before the apple bite
Before the apple bite I AM the rain, the dark, the light,the black white christian jewbuddhist muslim otherfather motherme and you. Oneness is as much an illusionas Goddesses Gods Saviorsall of the Higher Powersand imagined others. The 5 basic senses can not...
The Last Bookstore
I hope fully that it's not the last, because 'last' has been crossing my mind a lot these days. A lot compared to what/when?When the d words (demise, destruct, delete) hover,like gulls above the ferry, waiting for a tasty morsel. Scene 1:When I have...
Reggie, me and Kaia
I was 4 paragraphs into writing this note.My fingers reacted quicker than this mind,and deleted the recorded thoughts.(Guess I needed to start anew.)So here we go again. Reggie, me and Kaia.Reggie was the first canine. A Miniature SchnauzerBuddha companion. The wife's...
What am I capable of?
What am I capable of? I didn't know I was capable of being more at home with dogs than with people. For about 20 years I lived with canines, exclusively. Exclusively with people after Vietnam (hmmm . . . had to open some dusty folders), six or 7 years. I didn't know I...
Netflix. Woodstock.
Netflix. Woodstock. just watched Netflix, Woodstock.Got emotional. Tears rolling freelyto below my lips. It talks about free love. I missed all that free love.I got back in '68, 1 year afterI left, minus a few days. Going to Woodstock was a dreamon my to do,...
Word Ramble
Just start writing and follow where it leads.Don't be afraid(fully or even kind of), to fall beneath the surface. Actually, just feelLove is the menu,inclusive of all life. Fear pops in and out like batteries, loose. Power on. Power off.The In-between...
I feel . . .
I feel . . .I feel lifeI feel loss don't know deathso can't feel ittoday I saw bright flowers,picked blue berries,(a mixing bowl full) visited my VA doctorordered a creamy breve,served by a sensuous woman. walked around the gardenate a few cherry tomatoeslooked at the...
Forget
Vietnam, a long agostill changing story.be hear live now. war is warnot confined to yesteryearor even yesterday. You want war?Have a 'my way' fight. I'm right. No. I'm right. you want war?It's not mine to givereceive accept whatever Go to war? You sure?You don't...
In my backyard
In my back yardwe round them upand send them backacross the border In the newsthey bulldoze housesbecause the earth has value,not the homes of others In my back yardfathers and sons are killedand dragged and lynchedand jailed just because In the newsolive orchards...
a Longtime friend
a Longtime friend A longtime friend sends you a Happy Birthday FB post. You laugh out loud because today is May 30th, exactly 30 days before your burfdae. You respond with a FB message, to avoid embarrassing S. 'Hi S. You are 30 days early. My burfdae is on June...
Welcome Home (week 2 of 10)
Welcome home (week 2 of 10) a Preface to your welcome home.This time as a baby boy. So many homes you just don't know about, but each return visit HERE is different. You may appear as a tree, apple, gold, nugget, fish, deranged nut job, dingle berry, hair follicle,...
Here’s a liddle story
Here's a liddle story for you.Thirty odd (may have been even) years ago, I got a book for a dollar. 'Tongues of Fire' by Grace H. Turnbull, copyright 1929, off of a dusty Strand Book Store shelf. Loved the quiet. Loved the floor space, low pace, millions of books,...
MAGIC (week 1 of 10)
Magic is being here alive and continuing on. For years there was a recurrent dream/nightmare of me, as an adult being nailed inside of a coffin. Always waking up in a sweat. The last time I was with C at my place, I think. C and I had smoked some pot and were...
So, here we go with a sit down.
So, here we go with a sit down do it make up class for lost time.Yeah, I know what you may be thinking. I said 'may', remember please. We, you and me, are not what appearsto be real to me and you.Oh sure, there are degrees of realblah blah blah . . . Let's...
Fear
Fearin the present or of the futuremay be literal and not so. Literal,You are caged in chainsin an alien world,new language and customs. Forced to be with a matethat speaks another dialectjust to produce babies, to increase the supplyof colored people, called...
Because
Because Because life is like that.In one door, out the other.We live in between doors. Because I walked outside& Kaia was on the decklooking up at me. Because I was thinking, 'You're pretty' and just thinking won't get very farin the 3-D world Because...
Lessons
Lessons When I was an early teenwe lived on the 13th floorin the Lillian Wald houseson Avenue D in New York City. Ma sent me to the storefor Taystee or Wonder Bread."Here's the money. Don't forget the receipt."OK ma. The elevators, both odd and even,didn't work or...
We will outlive them.
Mama, outlive who? Those that mute our voicesand chain our bodies Those that collude and sentence usto gas chambers and electric chairs Those that tell their childrenwe are rabble, rats and roaches Those that cage our childrenand banish us to other places Child, think...
We are them!
News flash!(on inheritance) Look at all the folks (from babies on up) staring into rectangular appendages. We already got them,the robots. With a little more programming,forget about manufacturing them. We are them! f201
Inheritance,
Inheritance, something transmitted by or acquiredfrom a predecessor. Hmmm . . . never gave inheritance much thought.Here goes . . . TrustMy mom, an Austrian-Polish Jew, they said.My dad, Afro-American, Choctaw, Cherokeehe said. I see me as me, a sub-categoryof...
the Progression
the Progression The old guy walks different dogsaround the baseball fieldat Buck Lake Park,one dog at a time.Me and Kaia run for miles on the trailsand return to the car exhausted. The old man walks different dogsaround the baseball fieldat Buck Lake Park,one dog at a...
nuf said. me
The child in meis still methis many years later. That un-trusting frightened onestill hovers in the background,popping up when he whiffs fear. The first to test the waters.Is that a porpoise or a crocodile waiting just beneath the surface? An inner cast of...
Looking Back
Babies are not born winners or losers.They land here devoid of judgment. Let's recall from back then to now. When did bawling babies become"Make sure they're dead"winners and loser? "The victims are fleeing violence"Look around my friend.Fleeing to...
Some Times
Some times I wanna' be goneabsolutely MIAno longer here When it feels rightjust leave the planetfor un-mind/body ventures This may be where fearpops upin the minds of others "Leave the planet?""Are you talking about . . .?""Ohhh God, I'm not goin' there." We call it...
Be Love
be Love . . . but we want more,always more financial gainhappinesspeace and fame. Some saywe can get and give Lovebut cannot be it. Some saypray to Himonly He reigns Some saybe free let go the reins Few saybe hear now I am the rains seaskyearthother mother...
Since June 3rd, 2019
there has been duty, quiet, tearsand just now I am sad, alone, emptyNo, not alone. Lonely! Sure, there are words, the garden,projects in no distinct order. Breathe, look around. What's missing? The warmth of an other. There is no otherbeyond words and thought. How...
I saw a sign,
I saw a sign,'Support Immigrants'Made me wrinkle my brow. Support immigrants?Even the buffalo immigrated here,from some where. Think about it.We're all immigrants.Support which immigrants? f ADDENDUMA friend said buffalo were always here or may have migrated, but not...
What abounds?
The body and mindtemporary vesselsare recastin one form or an other Spirit rises as a toe, tonguecherry tree bearing fruita thought out loudor nested in silence I thank light and darkand in betweenfor all the blessingswe've shared in life Are they separateor is there...
all is Still
all is Still. [OK. Take a slow breath or two or more ] Still is never enough, is it?[Here comes the preachy talk.] Still is defined by the 'and' or 'what' words.More short stories in the making. Can you imagine your MindStill in still with no Why? Now see before...
So, here we are again.
So, here we are again. Listening to chatter on NPR. 2 Black sounding men discussing music. Mellow. Jessie Smollett popped into view.I got up, did stuff and am at the keyboard. I [kinda] hate going off course BUT it is awkward to 'fuck-you' peck at the...
Another Story
Another Story. Change is consistent and continuous.Many of us say that. Yet,being and observing changeis not the same. Some live it.Some talk about it.Some don't give a ***t(k).Some are in between. We say live in the moment.A story takes placein the span betweenmoment...
Just past 3 AM
Just past 3 AMI woke from a nightmarerealityheart in throatfear We focus on petsart trees beessons daughterssun and mooneach other and avoid the inevitable. Just past 3 AMI wokein cold chilling darknot knowing, just feelingalone They cut down many treesherean...
Dying Words of a Hospice Patient, ‘Forever’.
Dorothy Parker's short story 'Arrangement in Black and White' influenced my work, Dying Words of a Hospice Patient, 'Forever'. I'm on the . . Sure, I'd like to talk, uhhh, have a seat. That's right, Jeffrey Anderson. Thank you very much. I just gave names to the...
I have to come clean here.
I have to come clean here. The first time I heard on NPR Jessie Smollent (the 'Empire' actor)walked into a police precinctwith a noose around his neck my liddle voice said 'fake news',then moved on to more gabble. The first thing a black man would dois get that...
Symbiosis
Symbiosis There are 3 types of relating(the Word book says). Commensalism - One partner wins, the other has no idea.Mutualism - Both partners may benefit or survive on their own, or not.Parasitism- One partner benefits, the other is harmed.The web is an amazing to use...
the Bullet Tin Scripture
the Bullet Tin Scripture Sit back and chill If you wanna do somethinglisten to the childrenthe child if you only have one inside. I'm gonna call these bits n pieces 'bullet tins'.Why not bullets?Cause bullets cause harm and there is no other, so forget mother father...
Bullet-Ten Questions
Bullet-Ten Questions ***Who breaks the law?illegals Who makes the law?Legals came here killed the native buffalo foodchained a people's body and mindtested bombs on 2 Asian cities and they still make the law. ***in Poor Towna child today may be an adult killedby a...
the Agreement
Before you read this or not, please be forewarned. What follows may not be a poem, but once it took off, I could not stop it. Not sure if throwing in line breaks turns words into a poem. There I go 'wording off' again. *****the Agreement We had one, didn't...
the CARROT and the stick WORLD
falling forthe CARROT and the stick WORLD Carrots are used for many purposes. Some folks may cover their mouths, aghast.Others think about a glass of fresh squeezed juice.Me? I'm talking about the donkey carrot, the greyhound rabbit, and the human habit....
TRUST
TRUST is not a continuum,though like all else,it appears to be. "OK, I just stepped out of character." I have no idea where this is heading.Let's follow and see if we break a leglike they say in showbiz OR wind uptapping [Delete], saying good night to the dog,and...
“Incoming . . .”
I SHOUT, "I'M COMING . . ." The sun is hotter today.The stink is worse. coagulatedblood n gutsflies(where there used to be eyes)bits n piecesbody partscollectedin zippered bags "You got 10 minutes to chow down!" Lunch timeC rations, a plastic spoon, a P-38I trade...
Kaia & Luna, mostly
Let's see what 8:44 PM backward gives us. 8:44 PM and back. Had steak and salad for dinner. Kaia had bits of steak in low sodium organic beef broth mixed with mushed pumpkin and her daily meds. Added 30mg of codeine* to her meal to help her chill from the limping...
the WAY home
Maybe I will call all this stuff, stuff. That's what it is, right? Stuff! Break that stuff down, and get what you want. Is seeing believing OR does believing come firstOR does it even matter? Lets not forget the Way Home is not a destination,a voyage, an...
no name, 6
no name, 6 'Bridge Over Troubled Water', then 'Many Rivers To Cross' filled my head after Vietnam. Well, not directly after. Directly after, I was going to get a job in the newly established computer field. That's where the money was being made. Next I would take time...
no name 5
no name, 5 I am liking this 'no name' continuation. It frees mind from 'thinking in the box'. That takes more work than is necessary, 'thinking in the box'. Think about it! See what I mean? 'I follow my feet' is what I say.'Saying and doing' are different realities....
no name, 4
'no name, 4' The first 3 sentences plus 3 words in 'no name, 1' follow.I lay down to rest last night and the word 'forgiveness' sprang up. I thought we were going to be talking about my relationship with dad. My lined yellow pad was close at hand. The next instant . ....
no name, 3
no name, 3 OK, 'no name, 3'* was at the top of tonight's agenda. I cooked dinnerdid dishesSpent time with Kaiaand the mirrorStacked booksFlapped Jacks None of that matters.The intention was to sit and write. Give the distractions any name you want.What you name...
Words, Images and Canines
Words, Images and Canines I relate with images, words, and canines,easier than I do with adult humans. WORDSI AM accumulated air and extracted breath,‘til the day I die. (Die? A whole other topic.)I AM what/where/how I AM,now and not. Not until Nowmeans Now, Now, . ....
the ‘Master Manipulator’
the 'Master Manipulator'Our President is a 'Master Manipulator'. He has made the current negotiation about getting or not getting a physical barrier between the U.S. and Mexico. He says, "You Democrats don't want to protect our country".Chuck and Nancy say, "We do...
“I lead the Free World”.
"I lead the Free World". It was chilling to hear and observe the President of the United States slowly read his prepared speech as a monotone monologue. I wonder how many of our leaders on the Left OR the Right will comment on his robot-like delivery. 'Monotonous...
no name, 2
Here we are, back at it. We came up out of the station (me and the sisters), somewhere in Kolkata (formerly Calcutta). I had been staying in an area where many of the hostels were located. All the maimed beggars, wobbly cloth and cardboard homes, and hands out, palms...
no name, 1
I lay down to rest last night and the word 'forgiveness' sprang up. I thought we were going to be talking about my relationship with dad. My lined yellow pad was close at hand. The next instant I was in the Bombay (currently Munbai ) airport. Our plane from Athens had...
Malcolm X said . . .
Malcolm X said, “Being an old farm boy myself, chickens coming home to roost never did make me sad; they always made me glad.” Basically, 'what goes around, comes around' or 'we get what we sow', again and again. A...
Confession
In a written piece from December 10th, 'Let's talk about Vietnam', I wrote, 'I was raised with hatred for Jews and even the word repulsed me'. A friend asked, "How long did it take to transform that hatred?" I really don't know. After 70+ years of exploration,...
Why does a ❤️ symbolize love?
Why does a ❤️ symbolize love? Generally FB (Facebook) reader responses are limited to emoji faces, thumbs and hearts. Could it be the return to basic hieroglyphics and cave art, a language even the illiterate may communicate with? Here's a question. Why does...
Let’s talk about Vietnam.
Let's talk about Vietnam. a side note: My pen hand is jumpier than usual. Don't know why. Back to Vietnam. Let's see what words pop up. strength in numbers. fear fear fear outside in. inside out. I blocked many outside-in experiences....
a Pig’s tale
a Pig's tale We just had the yummiest smoked ham hocks ever eaten by 2 beings, one human, one canine. Two days ago I was shopping in Central Market and saw these petite, ankle-sized hocks (4 of them) packaged together. Normal sized hocks look like grandpa's swollen...
in the Underground Railroad
in the Underground Railroad Why do Pete Davidson, Conor McGregor and Donald Trump get so much attention? The Kardashian's offer peeks at altered body parts. Rihanna and Kayne have followers world-wide. What is the common denominator? Give up? They all perform on a...
Let’s have a real short talk,
Let’s have a real short talk, about black and white people in America. I observed a story involving a black man walking with two pre-teen white children. Of course, watching a story on YouTube and being present frame to frame (before any story can manifest) are very...
Loving life AND death
When the teacher appears, we may not acknowledge the lesson immediately. I am sharing an example. A few days ago at a potluck, I jokingly asked if your covered dish was beef tartare. You lifted the cover on the platter. I saw sliced cucumbers and tomatoes and . . ....
‘You will die today’,
'You will die today', greets me in the morning, some times. I used to quake, be rattled, and scrunch up under the bed covers. Now I get up, accept today is the day, shower, flush, brush, dress, collar Kaia and pull the door closed behind us. I help her up the portable...
3 Bits of Pieces
3 Bits of Pieces a Bit of History Mr. Trump has widened a wound, never fully closed, still festering, since Europeans landed on these shores and brought weapons, religion, a vision of riches, measles, smallpox, cholera, savagery to kill ‘savages’, and wiped out...
a Blank Page
a Blank Page She was ninety-five and bedridden for 30 plus years. There were caregivers and her window faced the Catholic Church spires. Laying there, looking out praying, she died. Deb and I were offered the apartment, if we moved everything out and did all the...
Wake-Up!
Wake-Up! See the other side, is as temporary as yours. The Pyramids are vanishing, through the many years. Many more years, before a dust to dust, full-circle. Are some tiny particles saying 'I want to be a pyramid again'. A seed sprouts, stalks, flowers, feeds the...
1 Family photo
In the beginning, terrifying darkness reigned and found easy entry into me. My angels jumped to and battened down the hatches. Invisible rays, body/mind closures and blanking*, kept me relatively safe and sound, in those early years. *Blanking: When I felt threatened...
a Tall Tale or a Short Story?
a Tall Tale or a Short Story? Dinosaurs walked these streets before us. We named them streets. Earth is earth, no matter what you call it. Give that a thought or longer So here we are, walking dinosaur streets. What follows? A Tall Tale, this wasn't. A Short Story, I...
the Past Connection
the Past Connection It’s wonder full to be here now and now. That is one dimension of reality. Another dimension is time in space, between the 3 dimensions of past, present, and future. It’s a relaxing place to be. Then there is the connective reality. This is where...
the BlackWhite divide
The BlackWhite divide in America is based in fear From the beginning; We need more hands, to prosper. I been bought to a strange land. We can’t lose what we got. Father, daughter, brother, mother, all sold. We will kill to stay on top. It’s better to be angry and...
What is really going on behind door #1?
These are dangerous times when a U.S. President is willing to create a 'Crusader War' with Iran, to mask his own evil rise to power. Amazingly enough, he made the same threats to North Korea, before he and Kim Jong-un became bosom buddies. The most frightening aspect...
We were at the lake
We were at the lake and Kaia dipped in a few times. I was on a bench at the water’s edge, the sun dropping across the lake, at my back. A kid and the young couple returned Kaia’s friendly greetings with their own joyous responses. I smiled, we chatted, she and I...
Secrets
Secrets A child in thought is how I most remember myself. A child talking little, thinking a lot, afraid a lot. Loving peace and quiet, hating when he comes home sick. Not understanding her when she rattles on in a language that seems to be English but somehow isn’t....
Your Worst Nightmare
Your Worst Nightmare I am your night mare bitch in heat volcanic ash budding embers laying-low until next time. Dishes pots and pans full food cans flung across the room puts ‘I love you’ to the test. Do you pass or fail to see the light of day each...
Capture the Flag
Capture the Flag is a fun kid's game. I've also played it with 20 men on opposing teams in the Canadian woods. If it were only a game, that'd be great. Regrettably it reflects life in the so-called real world. Winning trumps resolution. Lets break it down. The...
OM OM and OM
I read somewhere that God created us in Her image. Omnipotent: Her influence touches all life on earth and beyond. Omnipresent:Her presence is everywhere at the same time. Omniscient: Her knowledge is beyond our comprehension, so why bother to define it? Christ says...
War Game Memories
Imagine peering into black, hearing cans jangle, leaning on the M60, sweating bullets, knowing some little fucker is going to slip into the bunker and slit my throat. I got through another night unscathed. Yeah! * I lived in a 2 man bunker with a brother from Chicago....
We Do Her Too
It’s a winter’s night in our 13th floor bedroom. Both windows are wide open. The room smells like urine. We shiver from the cold. One cot mattress is wet and leans against the wall, so it will dry quicker. Both sides have been eaten through by too many accidents. We...
Taxi
Taxiii . . . When I returned from Vietnam I held many different jobs for short periods of time. For more years than I can remember I drove a New York City taxicab at nights and had a multitude of memorable experiences doing so. I once picked up three young people, a...
Hot Dog
Hey woman, run next door and tell Charlie we'd like some hotdogs. What did you say? What, I gotta repeat myself? This is the fourth of July. We supposed to have hot dogs. You must have lost your mind. The shock of them repossessing our clothes, furniture and...
Hard Knocks
bang bang banging on the door. “Open up! It’s the police!” I look down at the busted jug and at the dent in the wall, where the statue virgin mary whizzed past my head. Sure, I could have left run away years ago but each time we took another gamble. The gambling is...
Top Management
Rachel climbed the stairs. ‘One leg up down and pull up the rest of me. Left . . . right . . . left . . .’ More than a few times she stopped to suck in some thinning air. Rachel looked up through the spiraling steps. She still had a long way to go. She was like that...
I trust, I pray, I imagine
I trust spirit will move me in the highest way. I pray to be open and receptive whenever the call comes. I imagine joy pouring through my heart will drench all beings in torrential love. I imagine whosoever crosses my path will depart with every hair, cell and thought...
ENOUGH IS ENOUGH
woman open your eyes you pour forth children come alive. man takes the credit for life rests in his hands he says pain is natural you were made from ribs stay in your place woman you bear the blossoms that return to earth open your mouth shout ENOUGH IS ENOUGH...
Suspects
Blind; without sight + Fold; body of believers = body of believers without sight. three scrawny brown men blindfolded kneeling foreheads in the dust elbows bound tight behind the ROK officer gives a command no sound from the three men a soldier unholsters his 45...
the Space Creep
We get stoned out on the gun. When Brady joins us with his big head, we crack jokes and run for cover. Run for your lives. The Space Creep has landed. Hey brother, take off that head. We hide behind sandbags to blast the Creep with bullets, grenades and the M72 LAW....
“Sorry you guys.”
B-52’s drop their bombs by accident Sergeant Scott sizzles napalm crisp Suzie & the kids back home get a letter. “Sorry you guys.” Fred Nicholson
WAR GAME
In my room on the bed green soldiers fight over cotton hills through woolen grass to wrinkled rivers rushing past. Fred Nicholson
a Bloody Tune in 1968
They bend him in half, bind ankles to wrists and drop him in the 55 gallon drum, so only his butt sticks out. Voice 1: How they keep them lil' skinny mo' fuckers from totally disappearing? Voice 2: Man, they fill them barrels halfway with rocks. The ROKS (Republic of...
“Where’d They Go?”
Suspected VC in a row, all trussed up like birds for roasting. The ROKS (Republic of Korean Soldiers) go about their daily regimen occasionally returning to kick or stomp a bird or two. After awhile we lose interest and go back inside to get high. A few days later I...
PAINFUL TUNE
He bangs on her head with the frying pan. I told you BONG to meet me BONG at nine o’clock not nine fifteen. BONG BONG I had to pay that fuckin’ cabbie SLAP extra BONG SLAP because you SLAP BONG “I’m sorry . . .” PUNCH don’t wanna’ listen. Now get in there PUNCH SLAP...
Dad Is Dead
He’s 83 today but looks younger in his black suit. I whisper to him and play with the fingers that respond unnaturally. His closed lids make me wonder if his eyes are still in there. For three days he lays in view of 60 empty chairs. My brother comes by with his wife....
EYE PEACE
Eye Peace we hold hands, mama and me, climb the steps to Lester Weintraub, OPTOMETRIST. he tests me with the chart, changes lenses in the two-eyed machine. blinds me with his pen light gizmo. says SEE YOU TOMORROW. we go back the next night, and he adjusts my new...
boy think MAN TALK
Come in here boy Sit down Let’s talk like men When there’s something on your mind let me know We’ll discuss it What we discuss is between you and me You’re not a man if you can’t keep a secret You got that? Good Let’s shake on it. * Boy Come in here Stand right there...
What You Gonna Do?
What you gonna do when HE comes for you? When HIS ship lands HE will first whisk all the other living organisms aboard, from land, sea and air. When they’re all comfy cozy HE will say to us humans, "I’m taking Christian, Muslim, Jew, and all other faiths too. I'm...
2 Rooms
He storms into the boys room, whips the clothing closet curtain back and hollers, What the . . . Girl . . . no, don’t you move a muscle. Girl come in here. You gotta see this. She shuffles into our room, cased in her sadness cloud and stands beside him. Look at...
Conversation with a coupla’ friends
I'm visiting a couple of friends. We're eating dinner and drinking wine. Sex enters the talk. He winks at me, looks at her and says, 'My wooden leg nourishes our sex life. Don't believe me, ask her'. Sylvia gets up to clear the table, stops and disdainfully says...
Silly Me
When I was 12, we lived in the Lillian Wald Housing Projects in the Lower East Side of New York City. Every summer we'd pass the Pitt Street Pool and hear the splashing and laughter coming from the other side of the high brick wall. That summer day mom said, “You all...
W O R D S
Funny they are. Sounds made by fluttering bits of flesh, received by tiny sculptured bone and interpreted by what I had stepped on in Malaysia. I had just got off the bus and was heading to the 'warang' eating stall to grab a quick bite. There was a fellow working on...
I Remember
Chuck bought another round of beers. He had returned from Afghanistan a few months earlier. We talked about his experiences for a while and then the war talk settled on Vietnam. He said, "The difference between Vietnam vets and other vets is the Vietnam vet didn't...