“What is that?” “Underwear,” I replied. I had mine on, she was taking hers off. “No…what’s that on your underwear?” “A jack-off lantern. See where the eyes are supposed to? And the nose? Holes for my…” “I can see. Your junk is hanging out of the holes.” “Got a problem with it?” “No. It’s just…” “Yes?” “I’m allergic to pumpkins. All gourds. Squash too. I hate Halloween because of it.” “Sorry. Didn’t know.” “No worries. I’m...

  She read the message on her cellphone screen. She paused, not knowing at first how to respond. Then her thumbs moved furiously on her keypad and she typed her reply. “You’re kidding me, right?” He answered. “Can you think of a better way?” She couldn’t. But what he suggested was something she had never done. Never even considered that she could do, or would do. “I’m not sure. Maybe that’s going too far.” “You asked me a...

“I want you to go to bed tonight,” he began saying. “I go to bed every night,” she interrupted, and laughed. “Can I finish?” he continued. “Go ahead.” “I want you to go to bed tonight, and wait until he is asleep. I know he is in a separate bed, but I want you to be absolutely certain that he is asleep.” “Ok. And then what? What’s the point of waiting for him to be asleep?” she asked. “Once he is asleep…once you are absol...

“I definitely have a different opinion of you now.”   Jin’s words made me smile. It was something she had a talent for doing. Making me smile. She did that in our first messages on the dating app, and now that we had moved into the world of text messages, it was no different.   “How so?” I asked.   “That was not what I expected you to say,” she answered.   “What?” I asked. “What did I say?”   “You know,” she replied.   “O...

Hey, Alex. Good morning. I’m really looking forward to going bike riding with you this summer. Did you get a new bike yet?   7:32 a.m. and Helen was texting me.   Helen was my neighbor, two floors down and at the other end of the hallway. Last year I helped her pick out a new bicycle. We had gone riding a few times before, and we planned on going riding together this coming summer, but my bike didn’t survive the winter mo...

“Speed it up, old man!” The spiral staircase ahead of me was pissing me off for a couple of reasons. First, it was narrow and long, and I was getting dizzy climbing it. Second, I didn’t know how many flights of stairs it actually constituted, being a spiral. The pamphlet from the hospital said I could resume sexual activity when I could walk up two flights of stairs comfortably. And mostly, it was because the voice callin...

As Alex lay awake in the darkness, he thought about his life. He thought about the paradoxical nature of his world, how it seemed so complicated and at the same time so simple.He lay in the darkness on the living room sofa, his bed for the past four years, while twenty-five feet to the east, his ex-wife occupied the former marital bed. She could spread out her arms and roll over in her sleep, but Alex was limited to barel...

I have to make this quick. I don’t have much time. I’m at work and there are a thousand things I should be doing, and right now I’m not doing any of them because I have to write this down, out of fear that if I don’t do it now, I’ll put it off, I’ll lose the moment and it will be lost forever. Ok, here goes. I want to tell you that it’s no longer a case of “I think I love you.” Replace the word “think” with “know”. Someti...

It is over a day since I said goodbye. Twenty-six hours to be precise.For all of her talk about fragrance sensitivity, it is now me talking about scent.I can still smell her on me. I know that can't be happening. I showered this morning, washing off the remains of yesterday. Washing off the touch, the embrace, the kisses. Washing off the outward connections made over the course of a day. I know it can't be happening.Yet I...

More than simply quantity, it isThe quality of your words thatRemains with me.Not simply the sounds,But the silences.Music, some say,Is not simply about the notes,But it is just as much about theSilences between them.Each night it is the same dream,Each night.It is the same.Nothing more.Nothing less.I see myselfAlone in the airport,Bag in hand,Walking through and among the Faces Of strangers.Walking to meetA face that is...

“And in closing, I find that the Plaintiff has failed to satisfy his burden of proof, to establish that the Defendant breached the agreement, and furthermore, the Plaintiff has failed to prove any of his damages. Even if a breach had been found by me, there was no proof presented for my consideration that the Plaintiff suffered any of the damages as claimed. The Plaintiff’s claim is dismissed. We will take a fifteen minut...

Four years of pretty words,Time spent writing poems, songs, stories,Singing for you on your voicemail,Flowers at your door,And saying “I love you” even when youPiss me off. Enough. Full stop.The time for originality and creativity is over.Romance and ribbons and bows, please,Take a back seat. I need to be blunt.Fucking blunt. I want to fuck you.Now. Soon. Anytime I can get you,I want to fuck you.I need to fuck you. My bal...

I’ve never really been sure what I am, religion-wise at least. My mother called herself an Anglican, but that did not mean too much to me, since my father’s stance was well beyond run of the mill Atheism – he did not have a love-hate relation with the idea of God – he simply hated the mention of that word. It was not enough to deny His or Her existence. It was necessary to live our lives as if that word did not exist. I’m...

Shit happens, or so everyone tells me. Working at the same job for twenty-four years, that would beEnough to drive anyone crazy.So why should I be any different? It was all going well until then,Until June,And then the cracks began to show.Paralysis on the simple things,The things I’ve done several thousand times,Things I could do in my sleep. Does it really take two hours toDictate a three line letter, enclosing a photoc...

In silence can I speak without a word?The language of the heart I'll use instead;What need have I of speech when souls are stirred? A gentle touch, a kiss, both are deferred; The meaning of those acts remain unsaid;In silence can I speak without a word? A smile, perhaps, takes flight much like a bird,And carries far on purest wings outspread;What need have I of speech when souls are stirred? Though tenderness of lips may...