looking over from the edge of the bed at the crumpled pair of underwear on  the floor The crumpled pair of underwear on the floor were grey with a red pattern.  they were laying upon their side, the half open top facing sideways.   They look like some sort of giant sea clam that had gotten … Continue reading stan’s fields

He's very particular about everything.  He spends his evening fussing over appetizers and mains. An examination of his pockets might reveal a sterile bag of tissue against which is nestled a small bottle of Purell.  Another pocket will reveal a fine pen with a turned maple body.   In an aluminum wallet are a travel rewards … Continue reading The doctor

I must find a way into the forest. It is not easy for it is overgrown with thickets and brambles. Sharp branches threaten to poke out the eyeballs and put me into an ill humour.   I must find a way into the forest and push on into the shadow for it is hot and … Continue reading Divert

The kitchen was old and decrepit.  The one lightbulb casts a yellow pall on old chairs from a long torn-down hotel. These in turn cast deeper shadows on a chipped table upon which sat some unused medical devices partially covered by plastic grocery bags and old banana peels. He sat in his favourite chair near … Continue reading Natalie Merchant

He sits in his chair.  He is wearing a robe that he slept in the night before.  the robe is not fine - it is made of a cheap synthetic and is old - yet it is his favorite robe in the cold weather.   The door is open three or four feet away, maybe ten … Continue reading Inaction

the cat meows by the door.  the door is made of glass.  the glass is dark.  he meows again. the woman in the next room asks her husband what he is doing.  she is kind of lonely. the cat, like the man, looks into the mirror, and into the darkness.   both see their own reflections. … Continue reading a few moments on a saturday evening

My eyes are burning.   My gut aches.  My chest is wheezy.   I have read the first page of Huck Finn.  I cannot write about these things because I realize that my hands are so dry that if feels like I have potato chips for skin. I need to get out of bed and pit some … Continue reading Lullaby for a drunkard

There are nights when I want to say to myself, not tonight. Tonight is one such night.  I am sitting upright in my bed and it is a little after ten in the evening.  The sky outside is clear and looks colder than it really is. I have spent much of this evening tearing the … Continue reading crepes

My arms are shiny with droplets of rainwater.  I do not wish to wipe them dry with a towel.  My belly and brow are covered too and I want them to stay that way.  I want the rain and my skin to be one. the rain beat  upon my naked breast in the night.  each … Continue reading naked in the rain

What is the topic today? It could be sleeping on a full bladder.  It takes real determination to sleep on a full bladder.  Or a shared bathroom.  Or being in a tent on a cold night.  Or being drunk. How should one sleep with a full bladder?  What is the best way, the way which … Continue reading Off mind