Arms outstretched and elbows locked

Open palms grasp at what’s ahead

Will there be peace?

Will there be freedom?

It must be attainable

For a word to exist

There must be a reason

Reaching and pulling away or toward it all

Must there be a reason for freedom

Can it be a choice or a gift?

Can it be both?

Can it be neither?

Loose sweat drips and evaporates

The atmosphere takes what it is given

Swal...

The cold air fills the area and wraps its bitter emptiness around my entire body. It is everywhere. It’s as if I’m standing within the radius of a recent atomic bomb site. It bites and it burns. Paired with its relentless ferocity is the unusual yet familiar sunlight that almost feels cold itself, dull yet blinding still. The only color is drab. I suppose the redness of my cheeks would stand out a...

“I need to confess something.. I did it. Now, can you pass the wine?”

A good portion of the air left the room and an unknown toxin suddenly began to seep from the outside in. All eyes darted in one direction. The wine was passed intrinsically without hesitation.

“What? It’s true. You’re surprised?”

“Barbara, what do you mean you did it?”

“What do you think I mean? What else could I mean? ...

If I count the ways I love you

I’d be lying by the third

I don’t think. I do. And I do.

That’s the truth.

It would be a waste of time

Mine and yours

If I were to count the ways I love you

Not much time would pass

You know I love you

I think you know I love you

I hope you know I love you

Do you know how much I love you? Do I?

Maybe if I were to count the ways I loved you

You’d know how much ...

Time devours everything

Eventually.

The hourglass we know, from history,

Does not accurately represent the one that encapsulates us.

Its true walls are far less malleable than one could ever imagine.

Time breaks us and we break time.

Whether it be a chipping away through finite cracks

Or a complete shatter,

An erratic explosion or ill-fated implosion of all the particles we’ve ever known and the...

You know Dasher and Dancer and Prancer and Vixen, Comet and Cupid and Donner and Blitzen.

But do you recall the most brutal reindeer of all?

Häxan the demon reindeer brought about the end of times. Rudolph’s bright and shiny nose burnt out once and for all the night Häxan burst out from the depths of Hell through a narrow rift in the under-dwellings of the North Pole and took out the most famous ...

“Don’t go outside or the chickens will peck it off!”

That’s what my grandmother told a 4-year-old me standing there in crisp autumnal New England, wincing and bracing awkwardly in the backyard. Plastered in dead leaves with mittens on a string hanging by my side and an oversized Detroit Lions knit hat falling over my eyes, I made my way to the back deck to head back in. I believed her. I had no ...

Did you know

How loved you were? You had to know that. Didn’t you?

When three walked in and two walked out

Did you know?

Did you know

Who I was like I knew who you were?

Did you know my name? I’ll never know

The answers to these questions

It doesn’t matter

But you mattered

You mattered more than anything

It’s not fair how it ended.

Did you know

That you’re the reason I’m still here?

I know y...

“Get him on the ground!”

The two larger suits grabbed the disheveled man by each arm and shoved him forward. He fell to the pavement with ease. The third suit stepped over to the man’s side and proceeded to get down on one knee. He slowly brought his face to the man’s ear.

“You know you’re fucked. We know you’ve got one.”

“I don’t know what the fuck you’re talking about!”

“Oh you don’t?”

...

“It’s gonna fall.”

“It’s not gonna fall.”

“What do you mean it’s not gonna fall?”

“I mean it’s not gonna fall.”

“A good gust comes and that thing’s gonna be rockin’ and then it’s gonna drop.”

“What’re you talkin’ about?”

“I’m talkin’ about that up there. I’ve seen it happen before.”

“You never.”

“I did.”

“You’s a liar.”

“No sir. I swear to Jesus. Remember Art Tucker?”

“No.”

“Well it happened to hi...