Marcovaldo

Marcovaldo

At the summons of the loudspeaker, the crowd of customers was gripped by a frantic haste, as if these were the last minutes in the last supermarket of the whole world, an urgency either to grab everything there was or to leave it there – the motive wasn’t...
To Whom It May Concern

To Whom It May Concern

I was run over by the truth one day. Ever since the accident I’ve walked this way So stick my legs in plaster Tell me lies about Vietnam. Heard the alarm clock screaming with pain, Couldn’t find myself so I went back to sleep again So fill my ears with...
don’t worry

don’t worry

Don’t worry, he said, taking her hand. I’m not, she said, taking it back. We’ll jump off together, he assured. You’ve already jumped, she pointed out. Well that’s true.   There’s a difference between free-falling and flying. Yeah, you know where you’re...
Spring and All

Spring and All

they enter the new world naked, cold, uncertain of all save that they enter. all about them the cold, familiar wind- now the grass, tomorrow the stiff curl of wildcarrot leaf one by one objects are defined- it quickens: clarity, outline of leaf but now the stark...
The Inquisitor

The Inquisitor

Well, the legend tells of a droid, a self-repairing simulant, who survives till the end of eternity, to the end of time itself. After millions of years alone, he finally reaches the conclusion that there is no God, no afterlife, and the only purpose of existence is to lead a worthwhile life.

Into the Crocodile Nest

Into the Crocodile Nest

One day, a sentence once quoted fleetingly to me sprang to mind. It came from Saul Bellow’s Henderson The Rain King. My memory had stored the words intact, and something had decided that it would be useful for me to be reminded of them: ‘Mankind as a...