Category: Short Essays
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Pushcart Nomination
I worry that I’ve never written a love poem. I came close, once or twice, but I’m too shrill. “You’re a wanker, Number 9.” doesn’t sound right on my tongue or my fingertips. I worry that my grand moment will never come. No boombox in the rain or holiday meet-cute in my hometown. Heath Ledger…
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Life as a Venn Diagram
I remember sitting on the floor of your bedroom, rummaging through that rusted filing cabinet. “Who’s this?” I ask, holding up sepia. You, before me. A whole life I had caught glimpses of in old photographs, love letters, and lines on your cheek, but knew nothing of. Inspecting old baseball cards from under your bed,…
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Cities as Taxidermy
taxidermy: the art of preparing, stuffing, and mounting the skins of animals. There’s a city a few hours from here stuffed with people who love the old me. There’s a boy sitting in a stained green booth waiting to buy me another round. There’s a girl in a farmhouse basement waiting for me to return…
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The Lives I Promised, and the People I Promised Them To
On the flight back from Venice, somewhere above the Atlantic, she put her head in my lap and whispered, “Are we almost home?” “I think so,” I yawned, running my fingers through her hair. We decided to split a cab home from the airport, but she instructed the driver to keep going as we rolled…
Familiar passion 