grainy – Chris Bronsk

Flow

Father

Blue Hat

Sneakers

Jacob’s Ladder

“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 andContinue reading “Jacob’s Ladder”

Mortar

“Paul removed his coat and pulled the trowel from his belt. He stood nervously. Old Santos left him. No one watched him now. He reached the trowel down into the mortar. Slice down toward him, edgewise twist in quick short circle and scoop up away from him. The trowel came up half-covered with mortar—but howContinue reading “Mortar”

Avenue of Wind

“A coat from another life comes up behind him and like an old flame slips its arms around his shoulders. He watches as they dance in the mirror—he and his coat. He slides his arms into its sleeves. His hands fill up its pockets. Look at the street, that avenue of wind we used toContinue reading “Avenue of Wind”

With the Stars

“To watch the courses of the stars as if you revolved with them. To keep constantly in mind how the elements alter into one another. Thoughts like this wash off the mud of life below.” —Marcus Aurelius, Meditations (from an ongoing series of Boston transit riders)

Sacred Props

“I said that when my sons were the ages of those two leaping boys, they were so intimate it would have been hard to disentangle their separate natures. They used to play together from the moment they opened their eyes in the morning to the moment they closed them again. Their play was a kind ofContinue reading “Sacred Props”