Author Archives: Al

!!!!!*****WORKING DRAFT*****!!!!! “I’m going to try the ‘Introduction to Psychoanalysis’ course with Katy Winters,” Mike said as we traveled east along that unending stretch of western Kansas which if anything, was even flatter than before. “You studied Freud last year, … Continue reading →

!!!!!*****WORKING DRAFT*****!!!!! A few miles out of town, we meandered up a valley road, then drove along a hillside to a rutted two-lane dirt path. Mike eased the car up to a boxy house covered with vertical honey-colored cedar slats, … Continue reading →

!!!!!*****WORKING DRAFT*****!!!!! We left St. Louis after lunch, traveling through rolling hills, farms, and open woodland, a wider vista then crowded New England and Ohio. Mike fiddled with the radio, trying to find the clearest AM radio stations, which featured … Continue reading →

!!!!!*****WORKING DRAFT*****!!!!! The rain ended about the same time Mike finished eating. We sat on the front porch, staring at the leaves and branches flung down by the storm. One arm around his shoulder, my other resting on his leg, … Continue reading →

!!!!!*****WORKING DRAFT*****!!!!! I took the train home at the end of July. I needed time to myself, no crowds, no rush. On the way, I stopped in Rhode Island to see Eddie, Arlene, and Denise, hoping for a shot of … Continue reading →

!!!!!*****WORKING DRAFT*****!!!!! I’d been back in Cambridge a week when Bev and I finally had a chance to sit down and eat dinner together. She experimented with an eggplant-and-broccoli concoction, laden with lentils and rice and her usual eclectic mix … Continue reading →

!!!!!*****WORKING DRAFT*****!!!!! Saturday evening, my studies finally done, we walked for several hours along the river. A single sculler, done with his evening row, hoisted his shell into the boathouse. Looking up, he waved at us. Walking silently hand in … Continue reading →

!!!!!*****WORKING DRAFT*****!!!!! Mike showed up Friday afternoon, carrying Dylan’s new album, Nashville Skyline. On my little suitcase record player, the understated instruments and Dylan’s softened voice were right at home. “This came out on my birthday. When you told me … Continue reading →

!!!!!*****WORKING DRAFT*****!!!!! Next morning, I found one of those bulging envelopes from Mike, meaning it held a poem or poems. I ripped it open, reading it right there in one of dorm lounge comfy chairs. This one was five pages … Continue reading →