I want to believe there isn’t a techno-governmental-industrial conspiracy to destroy human volition but how else does one explain LED bulbs

It’s an ugly time. Try not to make it uglier.

“I made a mistake, however, that robbed me of peace and took years to unlearn.”

"He does not forget…that he is making his stand in the middle of a dying town in the midst of a wasting country, from which many have departed and much has been sent away, a land wasted and dying for want of the human names and knowledge that could give it life.”

(Wendell Berry, “The Wild Birds”)

Airport pizza and self-loathing for supper

Be careful if you voice-to-text this one

“I couldn’t have told you exactly why I hid it. Or maybe I could have. I was a boy on the edge. Poetry was a liability. But, then, what of the title? What else could that mean but, ‘please understand me.’”

Read Bryan Halferty’s post for Close Reading here: slantbooks.org/close-readin...

My babies and I have a secret code, which is three taps or touches or squeezes, and which means “I love you.” This way, I told them, we can always say it, even when we’re not supposed to be talking.

Presently googling "how much can I drink the night before I donate blood" if you're wondering how the day is going

“I was proud of her for getting away in the end. For finally making it to California.”

It has revenants and knife fights and fathers and sons and love and I hope you'll read it.

slantbooks.org/books/we-sha...