Just Another Night in the Police State
We’d been talking for hours outside a corner store, on a hot summer evening in Detroit, about organizing locally against prisons and police. We got in random conversations with other … Continue reading
Seeking writer-storytellers for “Collective Works of Grief: Unsettling Loss, Reinhabiting Humanity” anthology*
* The book’s main title is still being rethought and may change. It was “Public Works of Grief,” and I’ve toyed with “Common Works of Grief.” Any musings on the … Continue reading
What We Still Have
Possessions have meant less and less to me over the years, especially since my parents died. I saved almost nothing material of them. And the small, portable mementos I did … Continue reading
Six Months, Less Light
I hadn’t thought about it while gazing at these three glittery-lit deer way back when, six months ago today, but I was also on another nightly lookout, for another dear: … Continue reading
2 Vigils, 1 Night, 49 Names: #Orlando
2 vigils for Orlando on 1 Detroit night. The first was politicians, nonprofits, clergy, and even a cop as speakers-at-you. It was party-festive multicolored balloons as backdrop for media photo … Continue reading
Springing toward Death
“April showers bring May flowers.” In the Midwest, the empirical proof of this cliché is obvious in the abundance of blossoms, enveloping one with sublime sights and smells. The metaphoric … Continue reading
What Gets Shut Down; What We Pry Open
There is that trite phase “one door closes, and another opens,” that gets used too often as awkward condolence to those who’ve lost things and especially people they love. No … Continue reading
Unwell World
While doing my freelance copyediting work at a midwestern cafe this afternoon, two clean-cut, friendly, white men sat near me and began to chat about their passion for Christianity. One … Continue reading
