Jason Irwin: On the Road to Bushmills
Because of a parade, the road to Bushmills is closed.
It’s the only road that leads to Portrush, a town
less than nine miles away, where we’ve been told
there’s a laundromat.
Barbara Crooker: Nearing Menopause, I Run Into Elvis At Shoprite,
The bass
line thumps and grinds, the honky tonk piano moves like an ivory
river, full of swampy delta blues.
Gary Fincke: Headcheese, Liverwurst, a List of Loaves
Our refrigerator
Opened to liverwurst,
Headcheese, a list of loaves:
Luncheon and Luxury
Jose Padua: Feasts, Reincarnations, and Other Elegies for Days Gone By
Now we live in the age of vapors, gasping
for breath, running for the exits. In the middle of
dim rough days and cruel centuries, let our love
be electric, and our home a movable foundation.
Video: Good Grief
On the day of her dad’s ash-scattering, Nora rejects the notion that her grief comes in five tidy, predictable stages.
Barbara Hamby: Ode to Forgetting the Year
remember the day at the beach when the sun
began to explain Heidegger to you while thunderclouds
rumbled up from the horizon like Nazi submarines?
Abby Zimet: It Was Dark. It Was Loud. It Was Hard For Many.
In America, where the dark and crazy remain strong, we choose to begin the year taking solace and inspiration from President Zelensky…
Edison Jennings: Old Times There Are Not Forgotten
A student at Patrick Henry High, Oakum
asserted he didn’t give a shit about Marse Robert,
Stonewall Jackson, Beaux Beauregard, or any
of them fancy Southern boys
Joan E. Bauer: They Left Chicago Behind
Saul Bellow called Chicago: a prairie city with a waterfront
& the trees he remembers, elms & cottonwoods.
Anonymous: I Get By With a Little Help From Depends
Some of the artists of the ’60s are revising their hits with new lyrics to accommodate aging baby boomers.
Barbara Hamby: Elvis and Tolstoy Save the World
I am standing in line waiting for the bus to take me
across the street to Graceland when Tolstoy shows up
with his white beard and peasant’s garb
Thomas Bulfinch: Simonides
On one occasion, when the poet was residing at the court of Scopas, king of Thessaly, the prince desired Simonides to prepare a poem in celebration of his exploits, to be recited at a banquet.
Video: Dan Harris | The Benefits Of Not Being A Jerk To Yourself
After more than two decades as an anchor for ABC News, an on-air panic attack sent Dan Harris’s life in a new direction: he became a dedicated meditator and, to some, even a guru. But then an anonymous survey of his family, friends and colleagues turned up some brutal feedback — he was still kind of a jerk.
Video: The Ref
A referee struggles to maintain control over a 2nd grade basketball game.
