The good thing about being the Writer / Editor / Formatter / Publisher of your own book is you are the also the only shot caller when it comes to deadlines. Therefore, I hereby postpone Poetry: Volume Two publication for one more day. Those of you who remember last year's release likely recall the special typo-laden collector's edition. In the name of avoiding a similar saga... my trigger finger has agreed to wait one more day until button...
As I roll into my last month of Melbourne, final seventeen days if you will, nostalgia is taking time to creep in and rattle reflections of Australia. I have lived here for nearly a decade, after all. Melbourne is the city that introduced me to macchiatos and taught me how to say mate. It's where I came to realize how the sound of a didgeridoo, at any given time, ignites immediate reaction to stomp my bare feet and shake my tangled tresses. It's...
The next time Samuel sees Clara and Lyla, the girls are holding hands walking down the beach. They’re whispering in each other’s ear shifting attention between the water, sand, and vanilla sky. Samuel feels like they don’t notice him. He feels like no one sees him at all. And although the perpetual emptiness that he spent most of his adult years trying to mask with shallow encounters is undoubtably present - somehow it doesn’t hurt....
Clara doesn’t know that the letter she thinks is in her handbag waiting to be found landed on the floor of the hypnotist. It was the last thing he read before dialing her mother. “She mentioned Samuel? Do you know who that is? You must contact him as well. Please... quickly...” As Samuel’s feelings developed for Lyla, he disagreed that they keep it from Clara. “We need to be honest with her.” Lyla regretted telling Clara the moment...
Clara is under the water again. Just beneath the surface. Wrapping herself in the liquid salt embrace a few steps offshore, she opens her eyes to a blurry burn. It soothes her. It soothes because she can make sense of losing focus. The last time she saw Samuel, her vision hazed in a similar way for a far different reason. “I thought it would be best if you found out this way.” Clara remains enfolded in ocean. Her cotton dress extends in...