“Joseph, Stop!” And in an instant the chaos of the world stood still for one woman. A heavy clicking of baseball cards marking time against the spokes of a bicycle’s wheels ceased to tick. The mutter of a car rolling down the family friendly suburban neighborhood silenced. Freshly mown lawns dotted with old oaks […]
Read More
Three reverberating tongs of the church bell tower. Three soul crushing collisions of metal against metal. The grating of rust. The particles of dust drifting slowly down from the rafters below the church spire. From my pew I sit, resting my feet from their courageous – no – their cowardly flight from unholy men. […]
Read More
She was a girl in a flower shop. A girl named Marigold. And it was the first time I ever felt the twinges of pain which accompany love. Her slender, golden fingers wrapped the flowers for my mother’s bouquet. Her slender, golden fingers punched the keys at the register. Her slender, golden fingers handed me […]
Read More
She moved like a gypsy, her tent untethered, her shoes pointing north. And in her wake she left a trail of friendships, lovers, and mistakes. At the foot of a staggering mountainside, below the tree line which cut into the pure white powder, a fire burned; flames lapping in the wind. Clouds of icy snow […]
Read More
Frost bitten needles litter the hard ground surrounding white washed rock gardens. To the east, a dawning sun bathes the hills in purple, peering through the veil of smoke from nearby fires. All is silent, but for the shuffle of cold feet across weathered floorboards. The clink of manacles echoing off the barren walls of […]
Read More
You will never see me cry. She whispered defiantly. Tears will turn to crystals on my cheeks, the drop abandoned by salt rivers. No. You will not see me break this stoic facade. Not for something so worthless as you. She turned toward the North, the wind brushing auburn curls away from her […]
Read More
Damp sand from a misty sea foam squishes between my toes. I roll my fingers through the gaps in my toes and grip onto the soles of my feet. The warm crackle of the fire roasts my face and any exposed skin I have. Behind the wall of warmth, the glow of the flames […]
Read More
Through my window branches clash together in a violent wind. The drizzled mist of rain spatters the glass and sodden leaves roll across the grass. The day is greeted with a dark, tumultuous sky. An extension of night. I wrap the blanket tighter around me. Its healing embrace warming my body. A tight crocheted pattern […]
Read More
Twelve faces urge me to make a change. A mother’s tears, my father’s letter. Brave children who love me with devotion. They’re right and I know it, but I scowl in defiance. I have control or at least I used to. Now it seems the control controls me. A barrier is breaking. My wife, so […]
Read MoreA key resting in a locked door has endless potential. The door is either holding me in or keeping me out. The key either belongs to me or it doesn’t. At rest, this key is either a safe haven or prison guard. In motion it opens the world and sets me free. Or it lets […]
Read More