By Andy Kimmelman Prologue. Somewhere (anywhere) In that selfsame place Exactitude disappears. A gray brown grain among Silver tan sand. I. The fire won't start. Sizzling, steaming wood denies us any right to ignite its hardy fibers swollen with combustible carbon, trapped in musty damp, deposited there by misty beach breezes. Our humble host, Old Ben, will soon … [Read more...] about Sleeping Bag Sutras
Creative
Flying Scared on 9/11
By Robert Zywiec The same thing happens every time I fly. I fall asleep before take-off, wake up once the plane reaches cruising altitude, and fall back asleep before landing. If my flight takes off at midnight, this happens. When my departure time is 6 AM, this happens. When I am on an afternoon flight, this happens. When I was flying on September 11th, 2001, this happened. … [Read more...] about Flying Scared on 9/11
Issues with an AK-47
By Adeeb Khan It's funny how one's mind can pause and focus on something simplistic at a time of chaos. It happens everyday — to a young man who finds himself in love for the first time and can only hear the song of the birds, to the mother who stares blankly at the cracks in the linoleum of the hospital floor as the doctor dares to speak the ill-fate of her son. My moment … [Read more...] about Issues with an AK-47
Nub
By David Radcliff My friends in college - and by these I mean, the people who seemed to be near me whenever anything noteworthy happened - all of them drank, and heavily. I didn't. Not because I didn't want to, really, but because I was convinced drinking was too common, too expected and, most importantly, that it would shatter the enigmatic, unflappable persona I wanted so … [Read more...] about Nub
Children of an Indifferent God: The Way of Taoism
By Rachel Marie Mohr In the fifteenth year of my life, a great wall of nothing crashed down on my lungs, and I decided to kill myself. I walked out of my high school, down the hill towards the country town below. It was an Oregon autumn, and cold rain slithered down my shoulder blades. I remember I wore boots that day, but the deep puddles penetrated to my frozen toes … [Read more...] about Children of an Indifferent God: The Way of Taoism