Mr. Robertson glared at me. Beads of sweat rolled off of his shaved head. Some of them ran over the prison tats that decorated his temples. The arms of the swastika rippled as he clenched and unclenched his jaw. He wanted to argue with me. He wanted to challenge the statement I had just made. […]
The Day the Roof Fell in Read More »
I got on my knees and leaned forward in my seat to get a better view. The teacher, a visitor from the high school, dropped the flaming sheet of notebook paper into the milk bottle and then placed the hardboiled egg on top. The paper flared briefly and then went out. But the egg slowly,
Welcome, Dr. Clyde Tombaugh. We’ve Been Expecting You. Read More »
Yes, I could have ignored you just like I did on the other days. But you were so insistent about shaking your anti-abortion sign at me while I was trying to negotiate the turn without splashing you or hitting the pothole. And why did you drag your 10-year-old son out into the cold rainy weather
To the Abortion Protester I Flipped Off Read More »
My sister and I ended many summer afternoons in the 1970s green from the knees of our jeans down, sweaty, and reeking of gas and exhaust. As servants of the Great American Lawn, we regularly mowed ours, the elderly Miss Howard’s next door, our grandma’s, and once in a while, our great Aunt Flora’s. It
Our Green Wasteland: The Great American Lawn Read More »
“So, Mr. Parent, what was your best birthday ever?” My boss looked at me and waited. His query was part of a new meeting protocol to encourage team building. Every meeting, he would ask a question designed to reveal something about ourselves to the rest of the team. I mumbled something about a ½ birthday
The Best Birthday Ever Read More »
Dimly, through my sleepy haze, I heard the “uh, uh” like a car engine trying to turn over in bitter cold. No, my brain screamed. Not tonight. I had tests to grade the next day. Parent teacher conferences. A workshop. A field trip. Then the dreaded words, “Daddy.” I rolled over out of bed and
All I Really Want for Father’s Day Read More »