after “Unidentified Portrait” by Christopher Murphy, Jr., 1937oil on board A revolution restsbehind his eyeswhere the tears ofmothers sleep A mind to explorethe world that didn’task for him brims be-yond his jagged hairline He sits patientlylike sand waiting inan hourglass or likea Mona Lisa smile yet he’s ready torun all day andnever get tiredrun straight … [Read more…]

My Mother’s Mother (Speaks) For years, I forgot how to laugh,and the mirror smiled back like a stranger. My tongue swam like leaves in hot tea,the silence burning at my mouth. Homeless, I live with my daughter,the smallest one, hard as the earth. The one always running away:from her marriage, her country, her home. Run … [Read more…]

“Love your neighbor, yet pull not down your hedge.” – George Herbert Once I called the cops on my neighbor. He was not, as you’d expect, obviously deserving of such a measure. He does not drive me mad with his stereo, like the guy who lives below my poor old parents, whose vibrations make my … [Read more…]

Edward Abbey wished to be reincarnated after death as a vulture. Oddly enough, my husband feels the same. Either that, or he thinks he was a vulture in some distant, past life. Perhaps these men, aiming to soar the skies, feeding on death to create life, in a new life after their own death, help … [Read more…]

Selecting a place to reside entails more than the location aspect—it involves discovering a space that harmonizes aesthetics with practicality and affordability in equal measure. For people living abroad (expats) architectural design holds importance since the layout of a residence can divulge insights into its usability factor and sustainability features, over time. In this article … [Read more…]

My father was a monster hunter. He believed in chimeras and yetis. When he looked into the ocean, he saw shadows lurking beneath it. Mother Nature didn’t like being bothered by humans, and she always had a full stock of ammunition to keep them out. It was his job to expose her armies so that … [Read more…]

Petaki Road was as far from town as a person could get without leaving: six miles of blacktop running parallel to the county line, hemmed in by corn and soy fields to the east and a sheer cliff face to the west. Road crews and snowplows rarely visited. As soon as inmates were released from … [Read more…]

Each night David’s wife said, “I’ll just help him down.” But when David entered the room an hour later, the crib was always empty. Mother and child lay in bed, asleep in a way he himself never slept. Light from the small lamp, transmuted by canary-painted walls, cast the bedroom in parchment tones. It’s like … [Read more…]

Despite my wish that I be called Nathaniel, Stephanie has always insisted on calling me Nate. I don’t want to suggest that she is always so contrary, and I do find it endearing now, though it took time. She has a contrarian streak in her that shines through more often than I have been consistently … [Read more…]