• HE/HIM

    When he says he thinksthat it is rather queer,you wonder if he uses queeras a non-gendered pronoun,and if so you think hemight just be right. But what if he is a verballuddite, locked in an archaiclexicon, unable to dealwith an ever more complexsocial and sexual worldwhere what was is, and whatnever was is, and who…


  • A DECIMAL SYSTEM

    So, if I have it right, Godmanaged to come up with tenplagues for Moses to visiton Pharaoh, although at the timeMoses probably could notunderstand why it was ten,since God was boundlesslycreative, or so He told Moses. Maybe it dawned on Moseswhen wandering in the desertthat ten was a convenient number,after all, he only gave Mosesten…


  • SIX FEET UNDER

    I remember the afternoonwas cold and damp, with a persistentdrizzle that escapedthe clustered umbrellas,the sky a blanket slowly sheddingthe water that soaked itas it sat out on the clothesline. I suspect you would haveliked it this way, everyone in attendance,everyone shuffling their feet,wanting to look skyward,knowing they would see onlya dome of black umbrella domes.…


  • SAYING AND SAYING AND SAYING

    At least once again this morningsome talking head commentatortold me that it goes without sayingand then said whatever it wasthat went without sayingfor ten minutes, twice repeatingthe thing that went without saying. I trust he will become awarethat he and his ideas will,henceforth, go without seeingby me and hopefully others.But I guess that last commentwould…


  • POLISH

    Mother made a point of remindingme to polish my shoes, she saiduntidy shoes are the markof a poor man, one to be avoided. I noticed she never wore shoesthat needed polish, never had waxand brush in hand, and when her shoesshowed wear they were replaced. I learned early not to talk backto her, the penalty…


  • A VISION

    He loved the simple irony of it all. His vision was failing in one eye, likely might in the other, from macular degeneration. There was a hole in his vision thanks to his macula and geographic atrophy. And being a man of words he knew the best way to describe that spot, that hole, was…


  • A PRAYER

    Last night, as I sat poisedon the edge of sleep, I askedGod for continued blessings,for I have been blessed morethan I likely deserve. I heard Her reply that Iwould always have Her love,on earth and heaven, and Iknew my request, selfishfor certain, had been answered. But now I wonder if it wastruly She or your…


  • MY LIFE AS A CAT

    In my next life I thinkI want to come backas a cat, and not just anycat, but a domesticshorthaired spotted tabby. I have it on good authoritythat there is nothing finerin the animal worldthan being a domesticshorthaired spotted tabby. There will be much workinvolved in the early days,right after adoption, forpeople tend very muchto be…


  • HOLY ERROR

    If you truly believe that God createdevery creature individually, it is allHis intelligent design, then why the applein the Garden, and why both crocsand alligators, wouldn’t one havebeen sufficient, and why, just whyhave mosquitoes at all, ever? I won’t bother asking why God gaveus free will, since you say He willpunish us if we use…


  • SUNDAY MORNING

    Every Sunday morning my parents,usually my father at mother’s directionwould drive me the four blocksto attend Sunday school. I could easily have walked, a longblock and a half by cutting through yards,but they were afraid of I haveabsolutely no idea what. My friends that weren’t there with mewere probably in church soit wasn’t like I…