I lifted the cat and hugged her. Even though she’s shit on our bedroom floor and I stepped in it twice. Barefoot. Once, as I clomped my way to the john in the dark. Bladder so full of vodka, Sprite, and water that I thought I’d never go back to bed. The other, a weird … More the never end
I have many faults. I’m impatient. Lack discipline. I’m too lazy to understand our differences. And so, I get stuck in deep ruts. My wheels spin. I create paranoia. Make problems that don’t exist. Because I’m bored. Like a coyote in a cage. Running back and forth and back and forth and back and forth … More understand
Have fun before they’ve grown up and no longer want to play. Love, so both of you never forget the reason you came together. Sing even if you’re off-key and people stare or start to laugh. Cry when you have to. You should never be ashamed of your feelings. Fight for the good. For your … More an unexpected end
Dollar store stockings, ten cent candy canes, a six-and-a-half foot tall fake tree that we got for free from St. Vincent de Paul. Nearly everything we own is from a bargain basement or has been handed down. Our candle sticks, Christmas lights, stuffed elves. Even the wood in the fireplace was given to us. … More a few days after Christmas
Merry Christmas (fiction, previously published in the short story collection, A BETTER PLACE, in 2002) Grandma hollers from the kitchen, “Somebody better go upstairs and check on Kelly. I think she’s crying.” I’m 12 years old. Sitting on the big green velour couch. Feeling itchy. I’m wearing this new Christmas … More a very normal christmas
You will make many mistakes. Some of them inexplicable even though you are a grown man with a career, car payments, a mortgage or three, and husband and daddy duties. You’ll say mean things to your kids. Kick the cat out of the way. Raise your voice to your wife. You’ll wake up drunk in … More Eight Years
(morning by Brooke Stevens) The biggest trick is to gain faith and grow without subscribing to one particular book of stories, set of beliefs, or school of thought. As more years empty out all around me, I see people getting smaller with age. Smaller bodies, smaller homes, smaller appetites, smaller brains. Which I find strange. … More to get as big as a man can get
