James

James

Never had a situation felt so absurd, surreal and ridiculous. And I had spent my life as a slave. There we were, twelve of us, marching down the main street that separated the free side of town from the slave side, ten white men in blackface, one black man passing for...
And Our Faces, My Heart, Brief As Photos

And Our Faces, My Heart, Brief As Photos

What reconciles me to my own death more than anything else is the image of a place: a place where your bones and mine are buried, thrown, uncovered, together. They are strewn there pell-mell. One of your ribs leans against my skull. A metacarpal of my left hand lies...
All Fours

All Fours

“Are all the rooms here this nice?” Cassie, fifty-three, only had a second while her daughter was at ceramics. “No, I had it redecorated. It’s part of a . . . never mind.” The room wasn’t the point. I described my situation, Audra, the fork, the...
James

James

I walked outside and over to the big fire, where the men were sitting. I was greeted and then I sat. We talked some about what happened to a runaway over at another farm. “Yeah, they beat him real good,” Doris said. Doris was a man, but that didn’t seem to matter to...
JR

JR

— Get it? Art? You get it where you get anything you buy it, listen Gibbs don’t try to tell me in this day and age there isn’t enough around for everybody great art, pictures music books who’s heard all the great music there is, you? You read all the great books there...
Our Strangers

Our Strangers

I’m on the train, traveling alone, with two seats to myself. I have to use the restroom. Without thinking about it carefully, I ask a couple across the aisle if they would please watch my things for me for a moment. Then I take a closer look at them and have second...