As boys we knew the creeks so well that once a choice was made to fish, we’d almost run each other over crossing the lots to take the best spot, downstream, maybe, from some snag, in the trash around a falling willow, or in the swirl beneath the shadow of a rock. It wasn’t that … Continue reading
It’s Paxil, she says. Take it with bourbon. Better yet, find a shrink—a wise one. She wants me to swallow whatever I need to fill my hills and valleys in, and her GP’s flat happy to write paper for whatever you want to try. But I worry that pills will turn me into someplace else … Continue reading
It arched its scabby back, spit a curse, and tried to look just larger than a man, a mix of malice and something worse, one part terror, two parts contempt. I hadn’t meant to trap her in the barn— she could’ve kept that loft for all I care. I’d never seen that look again until … Continue reading
Demons are easy to spot: tornadoes that level wholesome Kansas towns, gales that isolate the Northwest coast, droughts that fill tent camps with refugees. But how a saint will move, a single cloud that sails above a front or flies the other way, that’s not even noticed until some nun looks up from prayer to … Continue reading
I suppose we might thank Hollywood for this: you can sit on the bench at the corner of Consolidated and Corn-Town Road and watch a child with iron-pierced lips flag down a Harley and wrap tattooed arms around a born-to-be-wild wife-beater, then ride off into what used to be called a sunset—until the evenings gave … Continue reading
It started out as shtick, a beggar’s gaff, something to set him apart from the poor who only hold out hats or wear their signs: Need Gas, Need Food, Out of Work. Continue reading
Hear this word, you cow of Bashan, who are on the mountains of Samaria, who oppress the poor, who crush the need… As I said, the Lord called me, took me away from my flocks, told me, “Boy, give’m hell.” And it was nothing short of hell I gave them. He showed me a vision—think … Continue reading
The gate is wide that leadeth to destruction…. In Elmer’s store the coolers run on kerosene, the black straw hats are apostles from China (dat’s a good buy!), and his County Seat Gazebos come assembled or as kits, delivered to your door by Elmer’s younger brother, Hershel, the wild one who left the Brethren when … Continue reading
