Relieved

I’ve always loved stories. Grandfather read them at bedtime. Then he told his stories of the river, the barber shop, or the little elves that lived in his garden.

Words spun worlds in my head,

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.

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.

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

Mope

Don’t get me wrong. Those frenetic people than burn incandescent, seesaw through life, never crossing at a crosswalk aren’t me. Eddie, Becca, Jordan. They are all like that. Talking fast about topics they

Burnt

“We’re here.”

The Jamison burned my throat as the car jerked to a stop.

Everyone piled out. I smashed the bottle on the pavement.

Voices were excited. We’d made vows.

Trees

They stood side by side on the shore and argued.

“You are blocking out my sun.”

“Tough for you.” The tree laughed in the breeze. “You loser! You’re drinking all my water.”

“Your water?” The tree shook a limb.

Rowboat

Simon shivered. Waves knocked against planks beneath his sodden feet. He swiped his dripping hair aside.

“It was an accident,” she repeated. Lamplight reflected from dark liquid eyes.

She’d knocked him overboard, he knew. He looked at the