“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…
“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…
“Under the spreading chestnut tree they leaned into each other for warmth that was escaping their bodies just as quickly as they could narrow the space between them.” Dylan Fremont, Cheaters
“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…
“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…
“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…
“The wind kisses her breasts and unfolds in a wreath Her great veils rising and falling with the waters; The shivering willows weep on her shoulder, The rushes lean over her wide, dreaming brow. The ruffled water-lilies are sighing around her; At times she rouses, in a slumbering alder, Some nest from which escapes a…
