His ancestors were not just marauding, blood-thirsty, war-mongering, pillaging, rapists, and slave traders. Vikings were extraordinary explorers, experts at navigation,…
Looking for Love
In love for all his life with every poet’s idea of love, he always wandered around in some kind of…
The Tab
“Well do you or don’t you?” she asked He drummed his fingers on the table but said nothing. Staring out…
Books Write You Write Books
You think of your life as a library. It’s a big one, maybe not the size of the warehouse in Raiders…
What Counts
Do you know what’s easy to count? he thought. The number of people whose deaths were Covid-related. Well, plus a few…
The Psychic
I woke up this morning – for which I’m always thankful nowadays – to find that everyone who knows him…
Opening Wounds
One of the deals with the Lutheran Church was that after you slogged your way through Catechism and Confirmation, you…
Another Challenge
This happened a long time ago when I was young and stupid. Maybe eight at the time, I was part of…
Sticking Point
“So it’s agreed, then, we should sell the house, right?” she said. “And we’ll then split the money in half.”…
Rock of Ages
You remember that Carly Simon song, “There’s Always Someone Haunting Someone”? I suppose she could be talking about actual ghosts,…
Catching Up
I had a pretty lousy childhood, but my adulthood has been pretty good so far if you really want to…
The Last Time
Neil Young was playing. The Comes a Time album. Sipping a beer, he stared into the fireplace and saw her face. Young did that…
One of These Days
“You know me,” he said. “I have a smile for everyone.” His smile, this one to illustrate, seemed to be…
The Cube
I was riding the Pacific Heights bus toward Ward Avenue when I saw the smoke. As we neared the source, I…
Here There Is No Light
For us, two hells might await us at the end of our existence. One is to be consumed in fire.…
Very Zen
“Excuse me, sir, but you can’t stop here. Please keep walking.” She’s pleasant enough, but I sense a sinister undertone,…
The Last One
The bud, pristine, sat there unopened. If you talk to plants, they’re supposed to hear you. That’s what Helen…
From Flames
Can smell the fireand the watersometimes imagineif water has a smellthat remnant steamy scentof memories Never cared for the way…
Breathe
When I could bare to stand nakedYour eyes on me for a first timeI prayed for the bestCrossed my fingers…
A Book of Hours
My legs go numb standing thereGrasping the wooden edges to hold meSo long that the usher behind meClears his throat…
Lanning Lee 