The mug of tea I drank at dawn, the tea that drove me to the train needs a refill.

He slaughters his hamburger steak with a fork and a butter knife, massacres ringlets of onions again and again thumps catsup all over

A student asks the old poet why he has spent so many years writing. The old poet says no one’s asked him that before. He needs a minute to answer.

He wants to do certain things he should have done before old age and illness reaped their harve… The doctor gives him days perhaps a week to breathe

It’s a small backyard I’ve watched for years from an upstairs window while chained to a computer. Whatever the weather

In a life with many valleys and a few mountaintops Alvin has met many people he thought were normal and others he thought not.

They were refugees, too, back in the Forties, settled in Chicago, learned English, some a lot, some a little,

The story goes Pa met Ma in the city when he drove a truckload of pigs to market. She was the young waitress who served him cup after cup of coffee and gave him three eggs instead of ju...

It’s Rocky’s Diner but it’s Brenda’s counter, been that way for 10 years. Brenda has her regulars who want the Special of the Day.

An old friend lost an old friend the other day. Jim said they were both getting up in years and he just happened to outlast Herman. Jim was black and Herman was white but that had never...

They laugh at him because he’s weak by their standards but they don’t realize they’ve signed a