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WHY, OH WHY
He was awash in questions. What, he wanted to know, did they use to cut the mustard? A knife seemed excessive, or did they mean some lesser powdered spice. Why was the cat in the bag? How do you learn anything by bruising your hand on books? Do buckets cause foot infections that kill you?…
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WHENCE
When you ask me from wheremy family comes, do notlook surprised when I answerthat it depends on the directionof the wind, but with natureas no more than a passive observer.In my case it is the fickle windsof war and diplomacy that markmy origins, my maternal rootsdeeply planted in soil Lithuanian orperhaps Russian or briefly Polish.And…
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NEXT UP
Back in the day,that day being the last timeI attended an open mic,odd since most are intimate enoughthat no microphone is provided,I stood at the lecternand looked carefully at the audiencethat was mine for the next few minutes.I wanted to see their responseto me, my clothing choicesand then my words, trying to readthe indecipherable map…
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ONE THING
It is probably a good thinggranddaughter, that you have neverbothered to ask me what one, whatsingular piece of advice I wouldleave you with, not that I amanticipating an imminent departure. It isn’t because I doubt that youwould care about or believe what Ihave to say although I may wellstand corrected if you asked onlyout of…
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ACTION
The question is, he saidwhat we intend to do about itwhen it happens, as it inevitably will. He got no response, had notexpected any response despitethe critical nature of the question. He knew no one wantedto talk about it, nor even to thinkabout its onrushing consequences. But it was the world that hewould inherit from…
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FOR SPACIOUS SKIES
It is a clear sign of my agethat I recall the hours we spentlearning about America, whatit stood for, how it was welcomingto immigrants from everywhere,why America was the greatestcountry in the world, and weincredibly naively ate it up.Vietnam brought us a large doseof the ugly reality of the modern age.Half a century on that…
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LIKE LEMMINGS
It yells tourist. Hell, it screams it so loud you can hear it in the next county. But they line up for it, wait patiently or not, not even certain why they are here. Some actually take in the Castillo, but most want to see the Fountain of Youth, which bears a remarkable resemblance to…
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ME AND MY . . .
I didn’t stopto think it at all oddthat when I walked backwardthis morning my shadowdecided to walk ahead of me.I was going to ask him whyhe decided to lead, butas I turned to walk backto the car he fell insilently behind meand refused to answeras the clouds came over usand he slipped away again.
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HORSING AROUND
At some point in time I imaginemy mother’s family must’ve hadhorses, or perhaps the ones they sawwere the horses of the locals,an aide when you are conductinga pogram, chasing familiesfrom their homes, into a flight to freedom.Perhaps my family were farmersor merchants in Lithuania, thoughprobably not owning a drugstoreas their children did in CharlstonWest Virginia,…
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ME, MYSELF, AND I
I suppose I would be justifiedin hating it, and I do admita little spite, but I tread carefullyaround it for I know the consequences.It’s fragility, seemingly suddenand unexpected, can be infuriating,and it has developed this tendencyto fail me in ways great and small.While I should expect thisand I have made efforts to accept itas graciously…
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an old writer and his words 