Author:

Poems

1. we drove up the long hill to the top of the cemetery she showed me how they portioned off the dead the Serbians here, the Blacks on the other side, then the Greeks at the end. I got out … Read More

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Return to Hue, Vietnam

The heat veil descends the third week of July and the market vendors feel its suffocation. Next to the stall of spices, a woman holds a cleaver, perched just an arm’s length from the spiked jackfruit shell. She brings it … Read More

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My Viking

My Viking stood at six-foot-eight, barrel-chested and ginger haired. His breath always tasted of dark rich beer and his moustache tickled my lips. Sometimes when I was doing the crossword or watching people through my window he would come up … Read More

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Poems

Mack’s Conversion Skimming back and forth across the Holy Land, Elijah felt the need to set down his chariot and he did so upon the banks of the Jordan. He came to a small tavern near to that spot wherein … Read More

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Dogmael

I can’t say I’m anything to be anyone to be saying a thing about it, but I’s heard it enough, I have, as much as any. But it was, gah, it was over yonder ways near Bristhlewaight or Skinnamarok or … Read More

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Two Short Pieces About Love

I. The old man and the old woman have been married for many years. Scattered around their small house are indications of the time that has passed; a doll the husband brought back from Japan, in a paper-thin kimono that … Read More

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Desperately Seeking Franny

The first two times I read Franny and Zooey, I was going through, to borrow a phrase from Salinger, a “blue period.” I have come to identify these low times with the term “melancholy,” a gloomy Victorian adjective that has … Read More

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Bones

“I saved a man’s life today.” She’s asleep. I climb into bed. My mouth hovers hot over her ear. “I saved a man’s life today.” That does it. She rolls over and has this medusa look. Quickly, I drop and … Read More

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A Change Would Do You Good

Let’s play some free association. I say “Viv.” You say…“coffee.” Wrong. I say “Viv.” You say…“Sheryl Crow.” Right! About a week ago, I ventured to Café Viv for the first time in quite a while, softly singing “Soak Up the … Read More

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Caracas on my Mind

With angular features and shoulders broad enough to match his considerable height, Gabriel Heiber, 19, embodies the youthful energy of his idyllic surroundings at Bucknell University. He speaks quickly with darting gestures, unconsciously borrowed from his time spent in the … Read More

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The Reappearance of Simple Words

La Rambla of Barcelona is like a mile-long circus. Thousands of people speaking 20 different languages come and go on the promenade at all hours of the day, stopping to admire street performers dressed as mermaids, Roman statues, and harlequins … Read More

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Death and Diet, Morals and Morsels, Sin and Sirloin

Thanksgiving is always a good time to accent one’s moral superiority at the dinner table. I’m in a grumpy, stressed out state of mind, so here’s my beef…

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