Bogeyman
In my mad old age the monster under the bed turns out to be me.
From the Meditations of Marcus Aurelius
“If it is not right, don’t do it; if it is not true don’t say it.” “The object of life is not to be on the side of the majority, but to escape finding oneself in the ranks of the insane.” “How much more grievous are the consequences of anger than the causes of it.”
The Noonday Demon, Part One
Dean Benedict scanned the new girl’s transcript again, trying to pin down what bothered him about it – and her. She had completed two years at Essex Academy, where she had scored top marks in all her courses. But she’d been put on academic probation twice for cutting classes. Given her grades, that might have
A Few Buttons Missing
A Few Buttons Missing Yesterday I lost my car. I had driven into Peterborough to buy groceries at Shaw’s Supermarket, and afterward, I went to the Toadstool Bookstore to see if they had a novel by Ursula K. LeGuin called Always Coming Home. No luck, but I noticed a new version of The Iliad, written
Relief
My mind’s in a knot. Two cats flow around my feet. The knot is untied.
The Paranoise
The Paranoise The Paranoise will never take a walk Without his stick that folds into a chair So he can sit and listen to the talk Of passersby who are not even there. The Paranoise will never start a fight Without a tongue that changes to a gun To shoot the argument he fears is
Dancers and Chaperones
Dancers and Chaperones The bright, swirling gowns of the beeches make the clothes of the firs look drab
Not So Fast
This morning in June it’s still cold. Nature does not respect calendars.
Grim News, Guys
Grim News, Guys Number by which the sperm count of the average human male is declining each year: 5,000,000 Year in which human sperm count with reach zero at the current rate: 2045 Men will go extinct, and women will have to reproduce though parthenogenesis. Harper’s Index, June, 2021 The future for men looks abysmal.
The Noonday Demon, Part 1
The Noonday Demon Dean Benedict scanned the new girl’s transcript again, trying to pin down what bothered him about it – and her. She had completed two years at Dana Hall, where she had scored top marks in all her courses. But she’d been put on academic probation twice for cutting classes. Given her grades,