Stories
Sturm und Drang Hall
Good River Review, Issue 7, Spring 2024
The famous poet swung open the silver doors of the men’s room, shaking the water droplets from his hands. “No paper towels in Sturm und Drang Hall,” he said to Melinda. They were in Sturm Hall, the old geophysics building at this campus neither of them had ever visited. It was in Melinda’s city, but she’d never had a reason to go. He was there to give a talk to a poetry class. Months earlier, in December, when he’d first mentioned it, she’d agreed to accompany him, even though it immediately made her nervous. The talk was in March, and he had never, ever, made plans to see her more than a few days in advance. It was what she wanted with him—future plans—but at the same time, she feared a jinx.
The Couch
Twin Bird Review, Issue 2.1, Summer 2024
I live at the intersection of a quiet street and a busy street, four blocks from the ocean. The quiet street slopes downhill, and its sidewalk is wide enough for a car. In fact, sometimes people park on it—summer nights busy with beach tourists. This evening there’s plenty of parking on the quiet street, but a car—small, beige, economical—pulls onto the sidewalk. A large gray couch hunkers on the car’s roof, strapped with yellow rope.
A man in a porkpie hat and suspenders gets out of the driver’s side and begins untying the rope. In the backseat, a guitar case rests on boxes and suitcases. A woman emerges from the passenger side and works at her section of the rope, glancing up and down the street. She’s barefoot, wearing a tank top and a long, sequin-spangled skirt. When she sees me watching her through the window, she waves as if she knows me. She gestures for me to come outside. I don’t move. She says something to the man and starts jogging toward my door. I wonder if she’s a new neighbor about to ask my help to unload the couch into a house nearby. Rain has been threatening all day—gargantuan gray clouds, a hint of steel in the air.
Other Recent Stories
“The Pervert,” Orca Literary Journal, Issue 15, Winter 2024
“The Presidio,” Pithead Chapel, Vol. 12, Issue 9, September 2023
“19 Ways of Crossing the Street After the Old Guy In the Sedan Jerks To a Last-Minute Stop In the Von’s Parking Lot Crosswalk and Motions For You To Pick Up the Pace, Can’t You See He Didn’t Want To Stop For You In the First Place, Lady?”, JAKE, July 2023
Additional Stories
“The Hiker.” Dunes Review, Vol. 26, No. 2, December 2022
“Cavitation Day.” Jelly Bucket, Issue No. 12, Winter 2022
“Conversational French.” Cream City Review, Fall/Winter 2021, Vol. 45, Number 2
“Moheem.” The Louisville Review, Spring 2021
“Ossature.” Pembroke Magazine, Spring 2021
“Five Kinds of Quiet.” Gold Man Review, Issue 10, Fall 2020
“Bigger and Better.” Emrys Journal, Vol. 37, Spring 2020
“Dolphins That Spend Mambo.” JuxtaProse, December 2019
“Fine-How-Are-You?” Faultline Journal of Arts and Letters, Volume 28, Spring 2019
“Tragedy at Sunrise.” Santa Monica Review, Spring 2018
“Blood.” Ecotone, Spring/Summer 2017
“The Crow.” Pilgrimage. Volume 39, Issue 1 & 2, 2015
“Blueberries.” The Sun Magazine, Issue 448, April 2013
“Fatherland.” The Harvard Review, Number 43, Winter 2012
“George Foreman Grill, George Foreman Grill.” The Ocean State Review, Spring 2012
“The Family Cannon.” Fiction, Number 55, 2009
“Tenants.” Third Coast, Spring 2008
“Terrible Driver.” Witness, Volume 21, 2007
“American Cousin.” Descant, Fall 2007
“In Kudova.” Confrontation, Number 98/99, Spring/Summer 2007
“Witness.” PRISM International, Volume 44, Number 1, Fall 2005