Fort de Chartres (pronounced “Fort Charters,” as Cairo, Illinois, is “Care-oh” and New Madrid, Missouri, is “New Mad-rid”) is a reconstructed French colonial fort, in Illinois, 40 miles due south of the St. Louis Arch. It was built in its durable form in 1753 to govern and house soldiers for Upper […]
There are pieces of furniture that serve their purpose admirably but temporarily. Then there are pieces of furniture that, over time, appreciate in value so well you think nothing of mistaking them for a family member. Such was the beloved status of my late, great, golden-brown, Danish sofa, consecrated in the […]
I woke up today with a kind of heaviness. It is the kind one might easily attribute to accumulated exhaustion, the slow burn of a long semester, the grind and hustle that have come to define my life as a graduate student. But it feels like more than that. There is also […]
Over dinner last week, a friend said she could not stand hearing President Donald Trump’s name anymore. He tries to be a king. Another friend across the table shrugged, “Well, at least the stock market was doing fine. Maybe people should pay attention to that as well. My 401(k) is great.” The […]
“Of course you have to take the phone to the bathroom with you when you shower,” a friend told me. “In case something happens.” “What?” I said. Until my younger son went away to college two years ago, I had never lived alone except for a year in college. Even then, I […]
A well-used wooden tennis racket hangs on my office wall, its leather grip worn and its yellow varnish cracked, but the maroon Bjorn Borg logo, so often slicked with sweat, somehow still sharp. I hung the racket on impulse, too lazy to pry out an unused nail and fill the hole with toothpaste. […]
“One day you’re gonna have to face / the deep, dark truthful mirror,” Elvis Costello sings. “And it’s gonna tell you things that I still / love you too much to say.” I used to think that was a perfect breakup song to give someone, but I have begun to think about what […]
I saw Joe1 almost every day. In the gym lobby, behind his cart; at the classroom door, sweeping; on the stairs, pausing for breath. A familiar figure, though never more than that. Joe, a janitor who works in our university. I did not know his background, his job conditions, or whether he […]
Last weekend, I went on a date with a Nigerian American. We had arranged to meet under the awning of a small bar on Delmar Loop in St. Louis, a city that on that particular night, felt suspended in a soft, electric glow. The air was warm, carrying the distant hum of […]
Is it…is it…yes! A bone! A real one, not that tough greasy pig’s ear I gagged on the other day, having accepted it against my better judgment because I was tired of the brown pebbles rattling around in that hard shiny bowl like a beggar’s coins. But this is a proper bone, from […]