I miss you. When the world is full of cheers and lights and life, I miss you. When the songs turn wintry, heavenly, and peaceful as imitation snow, it aches like an old wound. I swore I'd have Christmas one more time with you this side of stars. But all the tonic in the world could not cure you. And love simply cannot hold the weight of time. But one day, I swear, time will battle love and lose! One day Love will chisel death to bits. And I won't see you gasp for air in my dreams, ever again. For dreams will turn to proper stuff and rise.
The children are chirping at the bus stop, fed on their parents regurgitations. "Are you Spanish?" "He doesn't look Spanish." "He looks Asian!" (What does that even mean?) Will they ever questions their categories? Will they reject pre-chewed fare one day? Will they fly and go look for solid stuff? And what have I fed my little goslings at home?
King Gary
He descended from the Prices of Albion, Michigan - a humble lineage if any. He descended the Mississippi river to the namesake state: a dry, yankee fish; descended from a radar technician to a night watchman, from a full-fingered man to an amputee, from a boisterous firebrand who played a mean hand of Spades to a wafer in a hospital bed, gagging at the wretched machines. Then, he finally ascended. "There shall be no night there: They need no lamp nor light of the sun, for the Lord God gives them light. And they shall reign forever and ever." - Revelation 22:5
4.5
4.5 A gasp and a cry. Thumping up steep stairs. (Too steep. Stupid builders!) “Creak,” shouts the landing. The end of the hallway groans. Shuddering with sobs, my boy is waiting for a savior. “Jesus is keeping you safe.” Fears stilled. We douse the bedside lamp. Darkness pounces, never slinks, into the room. A preschool imagination fires a million synaptic candles. Sleep quenches them - one then 10... Later I pause at the door. Hairs on my neck exalt themselves - What if he’s not alone? The panic of a four-and-a-half year old throttles me. And ghouls and goblins and bad guys and grey wolves parade through the…