Infuse

Bridges casting long shadows over concrete sidewalks, buildings rising into the clear sky, a windswept beach with sand scouring our shins, cars and trucks weaving a chaotic dance

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Avid Reader

Saturday. I was taking Muriel to London for the weekend. A father daughter trip to the theater. I remembered the little girl who loved time with her daddy.

“How was school yesterday?”

She grunted, kept reading.

Vivid

In the space of a handful of heartbeats, a moment forever vivid and often reconsidered. You asked the unexpected of the unworldly. Your smile sparkled and your laugh ever echoes. The feeling of confusion, so overwhelming, has faded through time, replaced with questions. What answer

Arid

“Promises.” He sipped hot, bitter water.

The sun mocked him. A rusted steel sheet caught an eddy, sighed an arrhythmic tink into the silence.  These oil fields died long ago.

He’d kept his promises. When the front collapsed into chaos,

Walter

Here he is, meet Walter, he was raised up on a farm
His pawpaw taught him to fear Jesus and never do no harm
Walter loved his mama, fried chicken, and fishing too
Pawpaw taught him about honor and sacrifice
Noble ideas worth a fight, son. They’d cost his left arm

Now I suppose everyone starts out about the same way
Some folks grind the gears and bounce down the highway
While others no doubt ride smooth rails of silver spoons
Life on the farm was full of bumps and bruises and pain
But Walter knew love and his heart there would stay

Aware

He set the revolver on the table next to the empty bottle and the last of his cash. He rubbed his eyes. Grit ground painfully.

He stood and grabbed the money off the table. One last trip to the liquor store. No hurry.

Outside the skies poured rain. He darted to the dry bus stop.

Automatic

“It’s automatic,” he said. His scar blazed violently.

Another’s eyebrow lifted. “The orders aren’t clear. We should call the may—”

“It’s done!” His eyes narrowed and lips stretched tighter.

The others all nodded their heads. Contempt crossed their faces.

Oversight

His first day and Simon was late. He jabbed the button on the elevator. “Close, damn it, close!” It stopped at the next floor, doors opened, and no one waited. Simon rolled his eyes. He mashed the button, his thumb turning white.

Finally, he reached the sixth floor and exploded from the stupid, archaic technology.

Capable

“I have nothing to hide.” I have everything to hide. Scumbag reporters’ questions blur into a peaceful white noise. I take a deep breath and smile.

The perky blonde in the front row waves her arm again. She is exactly my type. I point at her big boobs. “Yes? You in the pink?”

“Are you capable of providing

Specific Gravity

I swirl the wine in my glass. There is no recollection of having poured it. My world stretches monochrome and thin. Days spin as a stone wheel to grind away all the Blacksmith has once wrought, strength of body and sharpness of mind.

Damp shirts