March 29, 2021

“Tress Theory, A Lesson,” by Kathryn Kopple

“Tress Theory, A Lesson,” by Kathryn Kopple

Charles gazed at the night sky and smiled. It appeared filmy, as if a giant sheet of wax paper hovered between him and the heavens. The hotel balcony, where he stood, gave him a sweeping view of the Gran Vía, the large boulevard that ran through the center of Madrid. Pulsing red, twinkling blue and violet, blinking yellow, speeding white high beams—the street swam with electric intensity below while above all was murky. Nothing shone or twinkled up there. Even the moon was less visible, something he noticed back in New York over a year ago. He didn’t make much of it, not at first, assuming that the moon’s disappearance was an effect of light pollution. Astronomers had long issued warnings: too much artificial outdoor lighting was responsible for transforming pristine darkness into an unsightly wash of cloudy denim. Charles experienced a sense of loss…

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March 25, 2021

“Amor Fati,” The Poetry of Vincent St. Clare

“Amor Fati,” The Poetry of Vincent St. Clare

Caption: Darvaza gas crater in the Karakum Desert in Turkmenistan, said to be the Doorway to Hell. Amor Fati    I’d like to be happy in Hell  I’d like to wear my drill-on dunce cap  Stuffed to the brim with snakes and diarrhea  And all the same I could laugh all the while    Yes, I could smile  Like the Indian prince on his deathbed  Of stone covered in dysentery and then   Silence,     Despite it    But it won’t be by divine mandate   That I wash these walls  Or scrub the floors with a toothbrush  That’s got nails for bristles  Or a sponge saturated with  Brine and boiling metal    It won’t be by right or choice that I  Cross the fire and into the light  Or wander circle to circle all the way  To the big, bright gangbang in the sky    Surmounted…

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March 23, 2021

“Real Estate,” A Novel Excerpt by Kathryn Holzman

“Real Estate,” A Novel Excerpt by Kathryn Holzman

A few passages from my novel, Real Estate, published by Propertius Press in November 2020.   Excerpt #1  Santa Clara Valley, 1962  On a cloudless Saturday afternoon in May 1962, Harriet Jackson rode her brother’s battered blue Schwinn bicycle along Mariani Avenue, alert for passing cars. She inhaled the delicate spring scent of newly budding manzanita blooms, delighted that her mother had sent her to the store for a quart of milk. As she pedaled, she sang “Johnny Angel,” mouthing the words as sung on her favorite 45 by Shelly Fabares.  Harriet let the breeze carry the lead but provided the chorus’s echo under her breath. The popular song complemented the sense of possibility in the crisp morning air. The rotation of her bike tires provided the backbeat. Together we will see how lovely heaven will be. She tilted the bike automatically into…

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March 15, 2021

“In the Hotel Room with Arles,” by Jeffrey Boldt

“In the Hotel Room with Arles,” by Jeffrey Boldt

1.  I first met Arlene Henson in law school. She’d been a teacher for twenty years and was in her early forties—which made her nearly twenty years older than me, and most of the rest of our class. But Arlene was still youthful and fun, and I never thought of her age as a significant factor in our friendship.   Her face had the gentle and patient look which you’d want to see on your favorite teacher, but it was also quick to flash into an ironic smile and even a dismissive, almost-cynical laugh.  Arlene was recently divorced from a Geography professor and she was attending law school on her share of the sale of their house in Milwaukee.   She’d been a collegiate swimmer, and still did triathlons; she often came to class in tight fitting athletic outfits which hugged her trim figure and still drew plenty of attention from young men half her…

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March 11, 2021

“Thirty Years in a White Haze,” A Memoir Excerpt

“Thirty Years in a White Haze,” A Memoir Excerpt

Dan Egan, with Eric Wilbur, has written a memoir which is true to its title: Dan’s three decades as an athlete in general and specifically one of the founders of the sport of extreme skiing. Thirty Years in a White Haze is his story as told to Eric. It is also the story of growing up in the Egan family and in particular becoming a world-class extreme skier alongside his brother John. We learn how they came to develop skiing abilities far beyond those of the average skier and to become extreme skiing stars in many of the legendary Warren Miller’s ski movies, ultimately arriving at the podium of the US Skiing & Snowboarding Hall of Fame in 2016. This excerpt is the book’s Prologue, and describes what is perhaps his most challenging and life-threatening…

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