Cry Baby

The Volume of Silence

When Celeste came out and stood at the top of the apartment steps, the wind made her step back and catch herself. She tightened her arms close to her body and made a fist with her collar. That’s when Montarbo … Continued

Driftless Elegy

The bridge over the Mississippi is shut, the traffic diverted to Wabasha while authorities investigate the undergirding which is corroded and in danger of collapse. Work has slowed on both sides of the river while an enterprising man with a … Continued

Something Is Wrong With Harry

Harry is gardening. Flowers, he tells me. For the dog. Dogs need flowers too. Really, I tell him. Harry doesn’t trust me. He thinks I’m being sarcastic, that I’m making a joke at his expense. I’ve been practicing deadpan for … Continued

Tool Moan

I sat at a table outside an Irish pub, with a child I adored and a man I didn’t, in a resort town in summer.   Another man sat on a folding chair attempting to entertain the diners with accordion … Continued

Someone Else’s Boys

You will be twenty-seven when you see the prison again. You will be wandering through aisles of junk at a flea market, holding your fiancée’s hand. “You don’t hate this, do you?” she’ll say, leaning into you, loving you for … Continued

In the Amber Chamber

The Amber Chamber is missing. How can a room itself go missing? What happened to the Catherine Palace? It’s still there—only the Amber Chamber is gone. It is worse than a whole palace vanishing, unmoored from its foundation, the cellars … Continued

Honey Bunny

I call her Honey Bunny—an utter cliché. That’s lame, I know, but I value clichés. They do set limits. And limits are the bedrock of sanity: without them passions would be too dark, wounds too deep, and fear would never … Continued

Panther

Of course it’s breath in the night, irrevocable fog, tongue that slips in silver stars.   A dream, a woman says, but what’s most disconcerting is the last bit hanging from the knife.   A woman says that which has … Continued