the very loud flowers on Peter Buck’s shirt

this city is known for two things: 1) being friendly 2) not being friendly. you can always find what you’re looking for. that’s what I find.  my big ol’ backpack is knocking into everyone in the club. my favorite bass player is standing right behind me, so I have to look cool. undisturbed by the …

bats

picture this. it’s dark outside. you haven’t seen any other cars for about ten minutes. you turn off the main road and proceed down the long driveway. fog so thick you imagine sticking a straw out the window and drinking it like a ghost-flavored milkshake, but you’re too busy figuring out where to point your …

we are time-traveling today

We are time traveling today. I unfocus my eyes and see raindrops outside the train windows like little gray specks on a painting that I’m standing too close to, power lines dancing schizophrenically behind them. Flashing sign warns “STAND BACK” at Hamilton station.  Since the last time I looked up from my notebook, the rain …

weirdly colored clouds

it is very cold in this car. the sun is gone. the weirdly colored clouds that followed it down are nearly gone. and the guy in the park ranger car would love for me to be gone so he can go home and do whatever it is that people around here do.

uglybeauty

i'm sitting in a paint-covered chair watching a pekingese harass an orange cat. a trumpet echos across my neighborhood. it played c…. b…. c…. b…. c…. b…. all mournful and slow. i live near a highway and train track, so there are many horns to hear. i don't really want to actually arrive at my …

duke ellington records and fresh fruit smoothies

a 92-year-old woman wearing scrubs just walked past me at a very brisk pace, with a look of determination on her sunglassed face. she just walked past me again, going even faster. i waste away on this bench with my young bones, feeling equal parts embarrassed and inspired. here is someone who has chosen not …

love and cigarettes

he is standing directly in front of me smoking a cigarette, positive i’m not writing about him. i have made the acquaintance of a few people successfully living in love. i watch and take notes like they're giving a press conference.

the headless guitar player

on your street they carved a tree into a headless man playing guitar. when the wind blew his arm moved and plucked the scrap metal strings. i took a photo of the carving with a snarling prehistoric animal in the corner, coming down from the sky. i panned to the right, looked up at the …