Tuesdays and Fridays, that’s when the garbage gets picked up. Like clockwork! We seldom worry about having to hold onto a bin of old smelly garbage. Wouldn’t it be great if we also had a schedule for relieving ourselves of the garbage we hang onto? If only we didn’t have to think about it; we’d go to bed on Monday night and awaken Tuesday morning feeling refreshed and free of all the grunge that we hauled around all weekend. It’s…
If he could walk, he’d get there, but instead he sat wondering where the sycamore trees would pop up, and where the anvil would hit the iron. The mercury rose like thick lava, boiling his skin under the merciless sun, the rivulets of sweat pooling in the crevice of his bent elbows. Nothing shifted in the distance, just the wavy illusions of mirages against the dry pale grass, still against the dry cracked hills. The bugs stuck to his skin…
The water lay quietly with a sheer gossamer blanket of silver light bathing its surface. The gentle kiss of the ripples against the sides of the little wooden boat was all that he could hear beyond his breathing. The chill pulled at his denim sleeves, a reminder that all he wore beneath the jacket was a thin white t-shirt, as unprepared as one could be without being naked on this misty November night. His dreadlocks had miniscule drops of dew…
Bob Marley sings “Three little birds, sit by my window, singing sweet songs of melodies pure and true…” He was caught up in a moment. One never hears that song and not envision the early morning sun rising and shedding its rays through a little window. See the 3 little birds chirping away and imagine lying on a bed and watching the morning come alive. It’s a beautiful song with limited lyrics. I have often thought of the simplicity of…
Mrs. Perry was a quiet thirty-something year old woman who lived with her rather shy husband on the North side of Milwaukee, better known as the “Inner Core”. They had a small apartment that most called comfortable in a time when jobs were scarce for everyone, but rare for blacks and damn near extinct for black men. The year was 1962 and no one had noticed exactly when the couple had moved in. It seemed as if they popped up…