↓

The Eight

One rejected the whole concept of sin but perceived the existence of evil. Another would have preferred Braille to e-books. A third had a fluty voice only while on the phone. A fourth routinely referred to family events as "Kafkaesque." A fifth and sixth didn't know which truth was the right truth to follow. A seventh added black tar heroin to his to-do list. An eighth would knock just once and then leave if the door wasn't opened quick enough. My dead. There have been years when I haven't been able to visit you. There are days like this when that's all I do.

back to issue

Howie Good, a journalism professor at the State University of New York at New Paltz, is the author of The Loser's Guide to Street Fighting, winner of the 2017 Lorien Prize from Thoughtcrime Press, and Dangerous Acts Starring Unstable Elements, winner of the 2015 Press Americana Prize for Poetry.