The Secret Code
Leah, my best virtual friend, is a writer like me. Writers know all the secrets in the world, and we aren’t ashamed to admit it, in writing. Paradoxically, she still knows more than I do. So, I paraphrase to myself the Bellman from “The Hunting of the Snark:” “I’m not ... Read More
The Debate
He prepared well for the debate: waxed the skin of his face, his mustache and the bald spot on the top of his head, trimmed his beard, and rubbed frankincense essential oil on the bottom of his feet and on his neck to help alleviate nervous energy and for the pleasant smell ... Read More
Flash of Love
To me, flash fiction is characterized above all by the extraordinary compression of its form. In its extreme incarnation, flash borderlines narrative poetry and is even mistaken for it sometimes. The flash story is lifted by intense feelings, situations and actions, and takes off and up and up, but never ... Read More
The Games We Play
BY Mark Budman | I tracked through the African desert, thirsty for you. In the early mornings, I inched eastward, toward the rising sun. In the evening, I walked away from it, as you did from me. During the day, I hid under an occasional cluster of date palms. They ... Read More