The Queen Mother sat quietly as her daughter, the newly crowned monarch, presided over her first meeting of Parliament. She remembered her own first time, following the death of her husband the King. She knew her daughter was nervous, but also saw that she was doing well. She smiled to herself as she watched her daughter shut down one very conservative Lord with grace and tact, without letting go of her rightful authority...

His joints ached, his vision wasn't great, and say nothing about his hearing because he won't hear you.  The stooped-over old man looked like a gnarled oak, but always had a smile for everyone.  Once there was a time he could have lived forever, barring an accident or a firewood shortage. He lived more within his memories than reality nowadays.  She re-appeared before him, as beautiful as when he was a boy.  She held out...

This year, amid multiple tragedies such as the Corona pandemic, record-breaking hurricanes and tropical storms, and an outrageous election — the entire airline industry was grounded. No, it wasn’t COVID-19, although that played a role in the many struggles by that industry. Even the grounding of Boeing’s 737 fleet didn’t have the reach of this latest disaster. This came from a completely unexpected source and blindsided e...

Rita sees them coming, moving carefully through the Friday crowd. She waits till they reach their spot, then kills the booming juke. "Clear the floor!" she commands, quelling the protests with a glare till the two are standing alone. She punches up their song and the room fills with ghosts. Eyes only for themselves, they embrace and slowly dance. They were girls then, lovers when the madness struck. One to the camps, the...

  I will tell you that you are beautifulone thousand times,then a thousand times more.I will talk to your heart,then whisper to your soul.And when I finally see you and touch you,I will tell you that you are beautifulone thousand times,then a thousand times more.Words will betray me a thousand times,but I will tell you that you are beautiful, then tell you a thousand times more.  

Nothing, Your elusive presence still haunts the persistent silence. Nothing. Your boyish smile of old still dances wrapped in memories. Nothing. Your voice of soft tones still echoes in the growing distance. Nothing. Your body of graceful lines still rests nearby in a time long lost. Nothing, nothing, just faded hours, just broken crystals, just empty rooms, just silence broken by droplets of blood dripping slowly from a...

The arms of an abandoned woman become the hands of a huge clock moving resignedly to meet the hour, while holding the pain of the world. The eyes of an abandoned woman become beacons in the darkness, bearing witness to the grief around. The legs of an abandoned woman carry her through old, forgotten roads, looking for a place she can call home. The hands of an abandoned woman hold her heart to prevents its pieces from spi...

If I had one wishI'd be a fishI'd swim the seaand make a splishIf I had one otherI'd make a brotherWe'd splish aroundWith one anotherIf a third would comeI'd make a mumTo make us smileWhen we were glumIf a fourth were hadI'd make a dadTo keep us safeFrom all that's badThen out we'd set, and swim all fourSkimming above the ocean floorFrom coast to kelp to shell to shoreAnd skip and play forevermore  

Our meeting was by chanceone like leaf falling on anothernot with planned descentbut landing by the whims of fate Unlike the transient leafslave to further flicks of windyou chose to stayengaging me We're twins in body, you and Iour lusting carnal appetitefinding easy fulfillmentfrom the first But life needs true sustenancenot just sexual sweetsit's in our hungry mindswhere the battle played out That nearly ended our danc...

In the joyous light of our encounter lay the darkness of our parting, in our burning desire for each other lay the cold detachment of later days. The death of feeling and recognition hid in the frenzy of spiralling climaxes while the coldness of our goodbye waited on our exhausted, satiated flesh, lying on entangled embroidered sheets, in a semi-lit room reeking of roses and sex.  

The book on speaking Italian was of no interest to him, despite looking at it with apparent interest. He was in fact, surreptitiously looking through the shelves of books in the library at the computers where he had a good view of what people were looking at on the internet or just in general. Michael Booth was 62 years of age, and looked quite a few years older. He had grey, wavy hair, and was fairly plump. His belt was...

On weekends I used to go into townto shoot in black and white.People strolling, kids running free,dogs or cars or any funny thing.The woman with the camera. Now I just shoot ghosts alongthe plague scoured streetsand empty parking lots,lucky for a distant shot of lifein the few unshutter shops. Sitting on a sunny bench,having coffee and a smoke,it's like she's been waiting for meto come around the cornerand capture her sol...

An hour each Wednesday is our time of loveafter I check the stations along the forest creek.We meet where beavers made a little pooland sweet grass covers the sloping bankcanopied by sycamores dancing in the breeze. We met by chance when I spotted herat the water's edge on a hot summer day.Blouse pulled out and open, she was coolingher bared breasts with a dampened scarf,humming to the burbling water's song At the snap of...

"Gimme the cash, bitch!" Rita looks up from behind the bar. "Or what? she asks calmly. "Or I cap your black ass, cunt!" he menaces, waving the gun in his hoodie pocket. Rita flicks a switch and the jukebox goes silent. "Ladies? This roach wants my money. What do you think?" she calls out, looking past him. His eyes jack wide open hearing half a dozen automatics being chambered behind him. A two-way crackles. "Sargent? Chi...

On the subway home Don't sneeze  On me Stay calm Been told Keep your distance Wear your mask Fear the infection Lock your doors Hide downstairs Sound the alarm As it comes for you No flowers Or family As it takes you Let them grieve alone For they too Have been warned Wait your turn For we will come For you Now you too have been told