After he’d freaked out. After he’d stood between the planks of a half-built patio pounding the guitar strapped to his chest, howling into the night and the sound rising up all around us. After the neighbors’ lights flickered, the dog that’d had its vocal chords cut out rasping and scratching its claws against the fence. After he’d fallen over; after we’d ... [Continue Reading]
The Long Haul
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It’s late November in Mill River, which means the orange hunting hats are for sale again at the general store. You think it might be time to get yourself a new one. You wonder, when Dave sells the place—that is, if he ever sells the place—will they still stock it each November with the orange hats? It’s lunchtime, which means pickups park askew in the lot. They ... [Continue Reading]
[That the river seemed the only way now]
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That the river seemed the only way now, we’re not sure there are other words we might use to trace this & so let’s just say: Lake Pepin. Rush River. Bay City River Bay River. Old Man at Prescott. Old Man in the Great Twin Cities. Old Man at Hennepin Avenue Bridge. Old Man at Central Avenue Bridge. Old Man at Merriam Bridge to Nicollet Island. Old Man at Stone Arch ... [Continue Reading]
Apocalypse Soon
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The fog crept past the streetlight, swallowing the clouds of smoke we blew out, skinny or fat or from our noses in dragony tendrils. It was quiet there on the back porch; you really couldn’t ask for a better place to take a break – sweat stuck to your skin; hands stinking like tequila and salsa; legs twitching from the hours of running up and down the stairs –the ... [Continue Reading]
Falling Hard in New Orleans
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In the beginning, you were angry. When The Other Girl first tracked you down and you went to that yuppie bar on Magazine St. and the truth about him and you and her began to come out. She wailed into her white wine, “My mother warned me about bartenders in the Quarter!” and you thought, “Shit, nobody warned me.” This is how it happened. You were 26, a year out ... [Continue Reading]