Ygrova had guessed accurately days before. She knew how the stars would soon spin into formation. “Hmm,” she’d responded, scrying the celestial waltz with her right eye — even as she gazed elsewhere with another. With it she peered even MORE deeply into the Sanyo TV before her on the wobbly…

. . . in his sleep! ‘Twas Saturday when Dad sat down. He’d been quite busy all ‘round town. Helping folks — the sick the poor, Ringing bells and knocking on doors. Minister work is never done, Unabated, sun to sun. Brief pauses sometimes might appear, And that’s when dad goes shooting deer. Other dads, they guzzle booze, but my dad, he’ll just take a snooze, While dreams of Bambi fill his head, Upon his Barcalounger red.

There was a full box of Krispy Kreme donuts in the other room . . . was.

A friend wrote about his buddy’s death and here’s how I responded: “I too have been fortunate enough, John, to lead a life cast with many magnificent friends who stick around. That’s why I wince when I read your post -- for I sympathize with the pain. My grandmother was much the same as us, my own Rock and my very best…

Brian King, friend and fellow writer, is dead at 25. The last two and a half of those years he lived out in the open -- well, as openly as he could, the global pandemic raging all around. I stood in as Sherpa the day we exfiltrated Brian from Alabama. The weather was dark and harrowing; a deluge of rain nearly forced us to stop. Then suddenly, this moment, glimpse of the Sublime: Et lux aeterna . . .

My SMS response started out as prose, just me relating to my good friend as best I could, no thought of “creating” anything but conversation. “I imagine this weekend for you must be kinda like the big pause before diving into a swimming pool or ripping off a bandaid. I’ve never imagined myself in that role . . . …

. . . in record time, Harper Thorpe! Author’s note: No actual Harpers were BLOCKT! in the course of this study.

as promised . . . Cake Ingredients: 1 stick (113g) of unsalted butter ½ cup (105g) Coconut Oil, Crisco shortening or . . . if you’re feeling naughty, lard 2 cups (450g) granulated sugar 5 egg whites, beaten 5 egg yolks 2 cups (150g) all-purpose flour, sifted 1 teaspoon (4.2g) …

(on the occasion of the wedding of Eddie & Carolyn, April 18th 2020) — Deep in the woods beneath the blue sky a great Oak tree grew in his home, by a bend in the creek, gently swaying all week in the Wind, and yet sadly alone. Underneath the same sky lived a beautiful Vine far away, near the sand and the sea. …