"It is an illusion that youth is happy, an illusion of those that have lost it." Somerset Vaughan, Of Human Bondage I THERE WAS A RED-BRICK HOUSE in Riverdale the neighbourhood kids relished to visit because there were greater freedoms to be found there than in any other household from either side of the railroad… Continue reading The Crystal Furnace
Category: WORMWORDS
American Rose
“The roaring of lions, the howling of wolves, the raging of the stormy sea, and the destructive sword are portions of eternity too great for the eye of man.” William Blake, The Marriage of Heaven and Hell AFTER CUTTING THROUGH A SLICE OF KEY LIME PIE in some dime store diner last week, I turned… Continue reading American Rose
Cheaters
“No man, for any considerable period, can wear one face to himself and another to the multitude, without finally getting bewildered as to which may be the true.” Nathaniel Hawthorne, The Scarlet Letter I UNDER THE SPREADING CHESTNUT TREE they leaned into each other for warmth that was escaping their bodies just as quickly as… Continue reading Cheaters
The Red Balloon
“I sit on a man's back choking him and making him carry me, and yet assure myself and others that I am sorry for him and wish to lighten his load by all means possible....except by getting off his back.” Leo Tolstoy, What Then Must We Do I RANDOLPH ORNETTE COLEMAN AWOKE ONE NIGHT in… Continue reading The Red Balloon
Graceland
"The condition of man...is a condition of war of everyone against everyone." Thomas Hobbes, Leviathan I IT WAS ELECTION DAY IN GRACELAND. I had lined up to vote in the party room located on the main floor of my condo. By the time I had arrived, the queue had already hit the double-digit mark. The… Continue reading Graceland
Le Boucher
“Are you still to learn that the end and perfection of our victories is to avoid the vices and infirmities of those whom we subdue?" Plutarch, Parallel Lives I EVERY MORNING AT ELEVEN the butcher tossed the expired, damaged, and discolored meats into the bone-can. When the can had filled to the brim, he would wheel… Continue reading Le Boucher
The Criminal
“The criminal type is the type of strong human being under unfavorable conditions, a strong human being made sick. What he lacks is the wilderness, a certain freer and more perilous nature and form of existence in which all that is attack and defense in the instinct of the strong human being comes into its… Continue reading The Criminal