“A small audience of onlookers has gathered at the edges of the road. They stand with eyes averted, as if they just witnessed some tragic event and are trying to downplay its importance. More people leave the abandoned houses and venture into the rainy street in twos and threes, covering their heads with bags and old newspapers. I figure they’re coming to offer advice or consolation about the blank page, but they push past me and flock toward the oracle’s porch. They all begin to file inside.”

—Jeff Jackson, from Mira Corpora (Two Dollar Radio, 2013)