Confused congregants at the cardinal conclave outside of the Sistine Chapel watched as yellow and green smoke curled from the world's most viewed chimney. "Awesome!" said Skylar, a… Read full post »

                         

In Minnesota one learns to savor the moments of autumn as the spectre of winter lurks in the background. Winter's portending is felt in every cool tingle of wind and seen in each swollen cloud. Fall's un… Read full post »

 

"Goddamn thing won't start."

I shook the lawnmower and smacked the handle. The dusty blue Briggs & Stratton hopped, its black wheels rose then slammed into the green turf. The hot midmorning sun glinted from a row of polished marble headstones.

I looked along the row of monuments to… Read full post »

“A dour sky hovers above the jagged rock shore and hints ominously at storms. Salty ocean spray rises from turgid white-capped waves that crash unrelentingly on the gray Maine shore. The spray collects and drips from straggly pines that line the craggy shore. A lonely boy standing underneath th… Read full post »

Hard to understand
What a hell of a man
This cat of the slum
Had a mind, wasn't dumb
But a weakness was shown
'Cause his hustle was wrong
His mind was his own
But the man lived alone

Curtis Mayfield, Superfly

 In early 2003, a 20-year-old store convenience store clerk… Read full post »

                       

Heading to DC, the traffic quietly rose in pace with the growing daylight. I spotted the tail near Hagerstown on the I70. I saw a dark spot with the famili… Read full post »

      


The state troopers took me to the Allegany County Sheriff’s Department. I was escorted through a small knot of onlookers. They handed me off to the locals muttering about a “transfer”. I was taken to a small cell. The troopers left with no further wo… Read full post »

                 


The road with its now familiar attributes - the sense that I was outrunning The Process effects - carried me through Illinois and Indiana into Kentucky. The dormant countryside was picturesqu… Read full post »

"Expecting the world to treat you fairly because you are a good person is a little like expecting a bull not to attack you because you are a vegetarian" Dennis Wholey

Like many of the writers here on OS my posts have been hit with spam. Well, in my case…

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All his life he had wished and waited, and there had been no change, except for the worse.

James T. Farrell, Studs Lonigan: A Trilogy

 

                  


Returning to the hotel I shot a “hey, ho” to the parlor coots… Read full post »

                                  

Kenny handed me a pair of overalls. I switched to an old pair of shoes from the trunk. I stoked a Camel I bummed from one of the boys. We passed around a pint of… Read full post »

                            

Maureen’s building was old, but well maintained. The carpeted hall was clean with cream colored walls trimmed in dark oak. A lingering scent of lemon oil polish and cleaning agents mute… Read full post »

I reached the outskirts of Chicago only stopping for short naps at near-empty rest areas. The countryside was unrelenting, late-winter dreadful. Underneath what had become droning 8-tracks, the road sang a song with tires and passing trucks.

Gray skies carried a threat of snow. I sta… Read full post »

                                    


The wide trail wound through sparse country alongside a creek. A weak sun wore off the morning chill. As we rode by trees, brush and under low-hanging branches, my… Read full post »

                             


The pre-dawn air was clear and cold. I could hear the snorts and champing of horses. Someone had rapped on the window. I stepped on a stone floor. I splashed icy iron-tinged water on my face… Read full post »

                 


The Prophet Matthew inspired me in at least one way – I was drinking more. The drive was now measured by six-packs and pit stops. The daytime highway contained truckers, salesmen and the stray loser like me. If you could keep… Read full post »

                                     

The Aspen chugged across western Utah with nerve-wracking uncertainty. I… Read full post »

 

                        

 

call the dance, won't you Lil

from your cool hillside’s ledge

near the twisting swirling

invite them dare the edge


wet stones slick with stories

the wind's voice seems to share

sweeping in… Read full post »

 

An evening snow fell wet and heavy covering Northeast Minneapolis in fresh white. The air was warm for January. I took advantage of the warmth to go out to the garage and bundle some cardboard for the next day's city recycling pick-up.  The garage was cluttered. I looked for/… Read full post »

                                 

Nearing Reno on the snow-slick Interstate I could almost feel the seething of dazed gamblers. S… Read full post »