Old 59
April 1, 2023The garage is deathly quiet late this Saturday in July, a stifling summer New York night, smokey and sultry. No mechanics, no drivers. One tow boy on duty. He’d spend the night hauling in busted-up cabs chained to the bumper of another busted-up cab that was temporarily functioning.
Fire Talk to Me
Luke 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…
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…
