Mandela Elegy
On that day in Oakland,
Every concession stand sold your t-shirt,
a silk-screened picture, fist raised
for the last leg of a world-wide tour
Buttery Nipples
It was in the South Side Salon in Keithsville, Louisiana where I discovered buttery nipples, a drink that my bartender friends tell me is composed of two main ingredients: butterscotch schnapps and Bailey’s cream.
The Bookworm Club: Part I
Cal Robert’s was either a genius or insane. But the general consensus was, “That boy’s crazy.”
Sitting in Duck Country
Find the university police office opposite the Burger King on DeSiard. The library is down the street from the KFC, the Farmer’s Market for satsumas is tucked around the corner from the P.O., but not the one from Eudora Welty’s story, it’s the one that’s here in Monroe. Without numbers, a GPS device is worthless, […]
I Hate Walmart
“I pass an aisle of travel mugs in different colors, and sizes, with Disney characters, Duck Dynasty members, motorcycle riders and flowers growing in orange and purple, overdosing in consumer excess and Walmart is the pusher.” I hate pulling into Walmart’s parking lot in Monroe, Louisiana, where I watch out for motorized patrons who carry […]
Yahrzeit Candle
For a big man, you left a small footprint, on your shoulders people created arabesques, formed pyramids as I watched from the edge of a plaid blanket knowing you were my father, the hand-balancer. Monday through Saturday you made orthopedic shoes near Second Avenue in New York City, now divided between a tarot reader and […]
The Blood Donor’s Flash of Fiction
In the cigar smoke of an autumn day as pecans dropped to the ground, he drove his SUV to a cream-colored building at the outskirts of a university where students and others in need of fifty dollars toward a bag of groceries lined up for a number.
The Morgue, the Merrier
Satchmo, of course; the Marsalis family, naturally, even Ann Rice, and her vampirish underground. But me living in Louisiana? You’ve got to be kidding! I got here on subways and BART trains, sidewalks, public parks, and noise made by people, not insects whining for hours in the summer heat loud enough to drown out a […]
The Morgue, the Merrier
Satchmo, of course; the Marsalis family, naturally, even Ann Rice, and her vampirish underground. But me living in Louisiana? You’ve got to be kidding! I got here on subways and BART trains, sidewalks, public parks, and noise made by people, not insects whining for hours in the summer heat loud enough to drown out a […]
Medical Checkups in Sterlington, LA
Not only did I have to relinquish my California Driver’s License when I moved to Louisiana, I also had to move the cornerstones of my material world. I’m talking about car and health insurance, and was much pleased to discover that I had to pay a lot less for both. I really didn’t mind about […]