1. I drive down Highway 80 and gaze at the landmarks you enjoyed when you were still alive. 2. The farm outside of St David, with grazing, tufted llamas behind a chain-link fence. 3. The roadside yucca tree that declined with each passing. It began lopsided, as if slightly drunk, but slumped more each month,…
From The Tractor Seat Nov 20
By Fred Steele (Road Scribes of America) As we scan the headlines of the news from day to day we often see stories that we believe have no connection to our lives only to discover they were defining moments that changed all our lives. Yesterday is a day we might not recognize as a catalyst…
Poetry By Carolyn Gregory
ARM IN ARM (for Oscar Wilde) Oscar, I would have lovedto have a date with youon Valentine’s Day.We would have walkedarm in arm in Dublin,dressed like dandies. Your wit would have floored meas you picked on the cell phone junkiesand girls in stilettos.You might have pointed out a boyor two with promise. You talked about…
A CLARION CALL.
“How about a mother who allows her family to deteriorate, to have no food, to sleep in boxes and in subway stations? Their children would be removed from them immediately, so today we are here to say, we are removing you from the care of our citizens.” That boys and girls were the words spoken…
Razorblade Tears by S. A. Cosby: A Book Review
This amazing story is about a Black ex-con father, a white racist ex-con father and two families wracked by the pain of two sons, one white and one Black, who get married and have a surrogate mother gift them with a beautiful female child. Ike Randolph was set free from prison fifteen years ago and…
“Remember”
By Al Action, Vendor-Writer Love isn’t overrated. It’s no accident we met. It was a match made in Heaven. Give me a minute of your time. Sit down next to me for a moment. Let’s talk. You think I love you. I think you’re right. You gave me a life I always wanted. A life…
Stolen Lives
“For George Floyd: The Whole World was Watching”* Shawn Mottram, killed dead on October 12, 1998 by what Trooper Joseph Stone said was an accidental shot when he slipped while climbing a chain link fence with gun in hand. A kill shot. Stone shoots so well by accident that he can split a bullet in…
Taking The Homeless Census by Alexis Ivy: A Book Review
I read this marvelous book of poetry three times upon receiving it. It’s no wonder to me that her Crown of Sonnets named “The A-Street Shelter: A Crown of Sonnets” won the 2018 Massachusetts Cultural Council Fellowship In Poetry prize. “Taking The Homeless Census” brings the reader into the world of homelessness with a jolt.…
Book Review: Long Bright Mirror
“Long Bright Mirror” by Liz Moore, is a book that is both frightening and warm, about two sisters in Philadelphia who have been slammed by the opiate crisis. Mickey or Michaela, the older sister has become a police officer who regularly patrols the 24th District called Kensington. Her younger sister, Kacey, a heroin addict, is…