The news, my friend, is no longer to be watched nor read. Breathe it in, then exhale it along with the question what time to set the alarm for tomorrow. It no longer speaks. Not even in irony as it complains of corruption and blames man for its own disasters. In frustration as the children […]
moreI recognized her, but she was out of context. She was sitting on a couch, her knees wide, a majestic belly holding her second child between them. Her two-year-old bashed a drum. “Aren’t you gorgeous,” she said to my three-year-old. She briefly glanced at me at which point I knew who she was.“Anne?” I asked.The […]
more“He was going to come to my 18th birthday as a surprise,” said the platinum blonde girl. Her eyes were fixed on my face. Tears welled up into them, dropped from her lashes, one by one. She did not once blink. “Everytime he visited Holland, we would do something fun. He’d worry about my boyfriends. […]
moreSnow. It’s dusting outside, is what a little girl says. She is six years old. She has never seen snow. Her mother laughs, tells her to come outside quick. The dustflakes melt on her flushed and confused face. Mother opens her arms and twirls. Little girl opens her mouth and tastes. They aren’t wearing jackets. […]
moreYou tease me. You turn your winds and they now carry with them an army of wasps; soldiers of sand flies that feed on the dampness of my eyes. Your sea is bloated and frustrated. Its currents sway from left to right, causing turmoil in the sand that lies beneath which rises, colours its blue […]
moreWe all have a life-defining story to tell. It’s that one story we tell people we meet, and often other people are telling each other about us. Someone will have been fired at age 59. Then what? Or has contracted an exotic neurological disease of some sort. Had parents who were missionaries. Or if you’re lucky, […]
more‘Vote No. No to Dutch Apartheid,’ says a bumper sticker. A man I chat with in a bar raises his finger and voice at me, “the Dutch need to learn to respect us.” I nod and smile and feel uncomfortable for nodding and smiling. He thumps his fist down, ‘we were here first. WE!” In […]
moreRemember that December? Five years ago? Twenty? When he was still with us. When she was sad. Or mad. Happy the next. Strung together by the lights we find tucked away in the back of a drawer. We blow the dust off of them so they can shine. These tiny little stars that keep us […]
moreI ran into an acquaintance. He was in his usual position: at a bar, drinking with two people whose suntans were too deep, we didn’t bother about introductions. It wasn’t important. In fact, nothing seemed important anymore, not like it did then when we were all still deciding what to do with our lives. Not […]
moreThe memories don’t change. To arrive in the middle of the night, step out of a plane and be welcomed by an arid wind that carries the sound of howling dogs, the roar of a pick-up truck, slow dance music. That carries sand and the smell of sea and soil. Of a dead lizard or […]
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