A true story of unlikely salvation — In 2003 my grandfather died and left me 6,000 dollars. I was 30 years old. Never having had more than 500 dollars at one time, I went a little nuts. I quit my job at a collection agency and broke up with my girlfriend, telling her “I just want to…

King of the bums — A lot of writers bash Bukowski. It’s almost a sport, a very easy sport. Like kickball. No, Bukowski is not the pinnacle. Yes, Bukowski-worship is annoying. Worship of any author is annoying. But why is it ok to worship someone like Billy Collins or Sharon Olds? “But, but, but those…

I finally made it to a Mexican beach — In Hermosillo, Mexico, I get Natalia out of bed and up on her feet with her crutches, and we drive over to Alameda’s house. We try to talk everybody into going to the beach at Kino Bay. It’s an hour drive. But Alameda doesn’t want to go, Adriana doesn’t want…

They’re standing outside the Target store, a middle-aged woman and her son. The son looks to be about 12 or 13, healthy, kind of fat, as tall as me. They have a cart full of stuff. I pull my cab up and get out. “Afternoon,” say. “Hi,” the mother says…

You can’t have too many friends — John gets out of bed and turns on the computer. He goes to Facebook. His page Facebook profile says “BRODY WELLINGTON. Pronouns: he/she/them/they. Ally of all women, trans people and BIPOC. Believe science.” His header is a Ukraine flag and a Black Lives Matter logo, which he cleverly sliced together. …

A poetry conspiracy theory — 45 years ago, two humanoids were artificially created. They were mixed in test tubes like martinis. The first one was formed, or “crafted”, from a carefully chosen composite of genes, and the second was then cloned from the first. Technically, they were male. They were nursed on an ultra-modern formula…

A little story about love and fine dining — I make a reservation at Hacienda Del Sol, a historic place up in the desert foothills, 5 illustrious stars by its name. When we arrive, the creamy-faced front-girl in her pointed modern heels gives us the once-over and we follow her like obedient ducklings into the dining room. It’s still…

Two white mass murderers sit in their prison cell. One is reading a poetry journal on the bottom bunk. The other is bouncing a balled-up pair of socks against the wall on the upper bunk. “Hey, Mitch, check this shit out.” “Oh, Gary, not another poem!” “You want me to…

It was an old army surplus Jeep and my dad traded a young Billy goat and 12 egg-laying hens for it. He just drove it home one day. We saw him coming down our long driveway. Lots of people have long driveways in Arkansas, but not many people have one…