Tyrant Birds
1. The man who wasn’t there to buy furniture appeared my first week on the job. This was odd, because the store I worked at sold furniture, and because…
To Kill a Child
The inferno blew and blew. It rose above the trees and spread outward like villainous arms across the porches of the neighbors’ houses. The cries of an engulfed dog…
Interstate
We play games in the backseat, the children and me. Is it bigger than a breadbox? Smaller than a house? Everyone’s a good sport before lunchtime but, by afternoon,…
Listening to Birds
Because I am not Dave’s wife, I hold my ear to his daughter’s chest every day, when the other children are quiet, sleeping. I think of her as his…
Hyacinth Gaze
In the strain and hazy fragrance of The garden of Miradouro de São Pedro De Alcântara, a mosaic of cobblestones Lies locked in Minerva’s fixed watch, The perpetual gaze…
Missing Hiker Kept Journal of Her Ordeal
(headline in the Boston Globe) Abandon the path, even once, if only to pee, and you’re lost. First text, undelivered—“Im in somm trouble. Call AMC. Somewhere north of woods…
After Khe Sanh
My brother as if in a body bag— heard me laugh, couldn’t see but knew the curve of my throat when I threw back my head, lips open, taut…