How To Be Clever
The man who writes very little always has the advantage over the one who writes a lot, since his every phrase is carefully constructed; just as the person who stays … Continue reading
En Garde
Runaways from a political rally, two helium balloons clap together. They are entangled above an intersection, caught in a wire on the side of an apartment. A man in a … Continue reading
Fearless Zumba Septuagenarians
Originally posted on The Nice Thing About Strangers:
Zumba is like a cruel trick on the elderly ladies in the sparsely populated fitness room: an eight-dollar drop-in fee for overly…
On The (This Isn’t A) Road
Trying to get back to the chapel, I find a sign that points vaguely at two different roads. Perhaps it’s Robert Frost’s eyebrow-raise that points me to the red rocky … Continue reading
This Seeing of the World
But he went on to reflect that he had done very wisely to pull up stakes and come abroad; this seeing of the world was a very interesting thing. He … Continue reading
Unsuspecting
Originally posted on The Nice Thing About Strangers:
In a row of souvenir shops by the Hagia Sofia, a tiny girl with blonde curls wanders ahead of her mother, who…
Love Your Neighbor (Coffee Helps)
The man in the seat in front of her is restless during the flight. Watching movies, shifting in his seat, opening a book, closing it, writing something, stopping. She’s just … Continue reading
Out with the Girls
I feel that I am growing old, I feel lonely and in need of the support of old friends, in which (in my case) rather small battalion I certainly count … Continue reading
The Beloved
Originally posted on The Nice Thing About Strangers:
It’s an ordinary stoplight. Everyone waiting for permission to move on. And the blonde dog shivers, always nervous to ride in the…
For Harisa.
Five years ago, I met a beautiful woman from Bosnia on a flight. We spotted each other before we boarded, and since the plane wasn’t totally full, she came over … Continue reading
Thinking About Tomorrow…
People were always getting ready for tomorrow. I didn’t believe in that. Tomorrow wasn’t ready for them. It didn’t even know they were there. –Cormac McCarthy. The Road. (This quotation … Continue reading
Just See Me. This is Enough.
The boy and his little sister rush ahead. They hide at the end of the moving sidewalk, waiting for their father. Mom is already waiting nearby. She isn’t happy that … Continue reading
A Seat of One’s Own
Originally posted on The Nice Thing About Strangers:
A boy and his little brother–each armed with a sack of groceries–board the bus and rush to pile onto a single vacant…
Yep, I Was Just About To Do That
She’s in elementary school, somewhere near the middle of it, perhaps. Her hair is bright blonde and neatly trimmed. She’s sitting by two older women at Mass, the one on … Continue reading
On Gratitude
It is an intensely long line at passport control. Flights keep arriving and people keep cutting. A tall man and I are both determined to stick to the vaguely orderly … Continue reading
The Blank Page
There are, I hazard, saints of art who have simply waited mutely all their lives rather than profane the purity of a single page with anything less than what is … Continue reading
Double Date
Originally posted on The Nice Thing About Strangers:
The couple ducks into the restaurant–the doorways give them plenty of clearance, but they bow anyway. The host shows them to a…
Where Are We Going?
I’m early to the doctor’s office, so I stay in my car to read a book. An older woman in a white minivan arrives. She parks, then unearths a book … Continue reading
Aptalım
When a mistake of the heart is revealed as folly, we think of ourselves as fools, and ask our near-and-dear why they failed to save us from ourselves. But that … Continue reading
To Health
Originally posted on The Nice Thing About Strangers:
In a café on the Dalmatian coast, a middle-aged waitress leans on the bar and takes coffee and unceasing cigarettes for breakfast.…
The Nice Thing About Strangers 