The girls returned to us are not girls. They were taken at eleven and returned at seventeen. Forty-six were taken and fourteen returned. Had they then expired, were they no longer of use to them who had done the taking? In the morning, we woke and they were here, in the center of the village. […]

By noon it was hot enough in my studio apartment that the Madrid sun shooting down through the attic skylight bullied me into waking. I thought about lying there with my eyes closed for the rest of the afternoon, even if it was too hot to sleep, even if getting up required finding effort collected […]

My grandmother dies in the depths of summer when it’s too hot to eat a popsicle. On the day of her funeral I walk with my mother to the cemetery in our blackest clothes. As we follow the dirt path to the outskirts of our village, I witness a herd of monks dressed in bright […]

Someone is at the door and asking for help. This is like when I walk down the street and see a sign in a store window that says, Help Wanted. I always want to go into the store and ask what kind of help they need, if it is urgent, if someone needs medical attention. […]

is lining the interior with unbleached muslin. is tacking a line of pockets inside. is freshening feather pillows : without wringing, they are exactly right. is treating chapped hands with a thick salve of lard & flour applied at night. is confusing brining with burning. was afraid the dog had been killed but toward morning […]

A man crafts the smallest sushi in the world from one grain of rice  a tiny piece of nori  wrapped around a shred of sea urchin He says a woman cried for over an hour   when she saw the small sushi, it was just so cute
 The ratio indicating the relation of the duration  […]