Fire Talk to Me
March 8, 2023Luke woke at dawn to Marie’s sweet face. “Coffee’s ready,” she said, and she kissed him on the head. She didn’t have to breathe deeply to get the stink of stale alcohol coming off him. They had a fight about his drinking when he dragged home at two in the morning, and she was determined to ease up. Whatever he was going through she couldn’t help him. She gave herself credit for recognizing that. “And Sanderson called,” she said. “There was some light precip last night and lightning strikes they’re monitoring north of Birdsview. They want you ready but nothing…
Tree Pose
I was entirely unequipped to be a firefighter, and not particularly rugged. I was a city kid who knew bupkus about the forest. There were trees in Brooklyn, I suppose, but I didn’t pay attention to them. I took firefighting…
Raising the Dead in Brooklyn
November 11, 1970, Bay Ridge, Brooklyn. I just turned 18, free and alive, pursuing any adventure that came my way, when I heard about the Grateful Dead playing in the adjoining neighborhood of Borough Park. It was Alison Steele, The…