From my stool in the diner I watc… the old woman with elm tree arms command the big booth in back and roar for a menu, take a half hour to read it

A spindly young fawn wanders away from its doe. Coyotes must eat. Donal Mahoney

We’re upset when vandals desecrate a cemetery and disrespect the dead not so much when doctors vandalize the womb

Strapped to his bed in the nursing home, he tells every nurse who comes in and tightens his straps

After services on Sunday the old Marlboro man puts his Bible under his arm and talks to his pastor through a hole in his neck.

This morning I woke up early feelin’ good, feelin’ the way I felt 50 years ago, no aches, no pains, can’t wait to shower, hop on the El, go back to work,

You drive down the same country road every day at dawn and see through plumes of dust

Noon meal at the nursing home and everyone is there chowing down and talking. Before dessert is served there’s an announcement to be made

They’re usually poor people, sometimes considered the flotsam of society, always in the way at the grocery store,

Made in America means different things to different people. In 1998 they made our old Camry in Japan.

The speaker is Phil Burns, owner of the brokerage firm that Owen Mitchell has had money invested with for years. Owen’s not rich and not poor. He just prefers the action of the stock ma...

If they irritate you and so many do you don’t seek them out until you need them and when you’re through

One, a nun, has her transfer in her hand. She’s silently praying. Another, a hooker, has her income in her purse.