The day the fox staggered into the barn my father didn’t own a gun, his whole life, a pacifist, with no desire to harm, or hunt, or defend with force. At the time, I saw this as a failure of character, as a listless boat floating without hope of shore, hated his inability to kill, … Continue reading The Politics of Violence
It was an evening out of Goya – foreground disarray, distant hills, Coal tar sky, the whole thing soundproof and sullen as a grease trap. I can’t say if I imagined the needles snapped off in my wrist. Tomas slashed away with a dull switchblade like a schoolboy Made to do lines, then explored the … Continue reading Sonnet in Relief
WHEN I CAME DOWN HERE I met Gage, and Gage showed me Einshein’s junkyard. Einshein is a large, slovenly man, with two signature looks. One is a chewing tobacco-stained tee shirt that says “I’m With Stupid” even though he’s always by himself, so think about that, and the other, in cold weather, is a flannel … Continue reading Blue Boat
To say I am sun obsessed and weary would be like saying I am a pharaoh who has crawled from the necropolis with a mouthful of hunger. I am the one who is afraid, biting the reins, crossing the desert before the wind takes my pale voices back to the womb. Say you cup your … Continue reading Queen of the Night (Night Blooming Cereus)
AFTER GETTING OUT, he tried to make a new life. He moved to Upstate New York and started a resurrection project, something that would bring him back to life. It wasn’t going to be easy because he was dead inside. Life had fled from him like a beaten dog. It came back the same way. … Continue reading The Resurrection Project
If you look closely, there in the narrows of Penn Station is a ghost whittling his tune in the gutter-water. He fiddles his song in the graffiti, if you stand long enough to listen, whistling along wires of yellow construction tape. In the silence of strangers trapped in separate oblivions, the ghost pauses and smiles, … Continue reading E Train (8 Avenue Local)
Here are Hidden Peak Press' 2024 Pushcart Prize nominees.
WHEN THE ARRANGEMENTS needed to be made, I knew who to call. There are some people who have a high degree of skill and experience when it comes to such a topic, and many of them will tell you that the loss of what no longer seems to exist is only temporary. It’s one of … Continue reading The Lifecycle of Stars
SHE WADDLED WHEN she walked, favored her left. It took her four tries to get the order right, doesn't matter what it was — groceries, breakfast, DoorDash, something from Amazon... Took her ten days to learn how to use the TV remote. She loved to cook but couldn't cook worth a damn. Her legs swelled, … Continue reading Because of the Stroke
IT SEEMED IMPOSSIBLE that a book he had given away many years ago and several miles from here should now lay in his hands at this rummage sale. His first thought on seeing it was, The Norton Anthology of Modern Poetry. How I wore my copy out. Then, turning a few pages and catching glimpses … Continue reading Buy It Again