Coming out of the Great Depression, one of the Civil Works Administration projects of Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal was the construction of a small stretch of road through Bergen County, New Jersey and into lower New York State. It’s maybe one of the most beautiful drives you can take in this part of the […]
Ouroboros
our better angels are dead —slaughtered in the night by the old false prophets,scoffing down whatever cultish claim is theirsand in the clamor they consume some truthto shit out lies and serve them on some silver platter,like unwitting cannibalsthey arewho eat not to sate but to exceed,more love for the cutlery than what it cuts,and […]
Past Life
how many pastlivesago was it,what at the timewassogod-damning,and I’ve been damned a few hundred times since,crossed oceans that now seem like ponds,what you did the same with puddlesand just as easily sank toodeepdownthe old winding creek-bedwith the half-assed bridge about its bank,oh, how many ghosts did you meet after mefollowing the deer trail up the […]
Jesus, Antifa Revolutionary: Reflections around Easter
From a certain corner atop the Temple Mount, there’s a good view of the Mount of Olives looking East, though the olive trees there are sparse and kind of sad. It was a sunny summer day, and the Israeli sun can really beat down on you, but we walked from the Temple Mount, out the […]
The Republican Promise of a Negligent Homicide against America
America believes, perhaps because of our history, that freedom is our most cherished quality. Maybe because of violent beginnings, our independence has long been interpreted to mean “freedom from tyranny,” as opposed to “freedom from want.” That is, when we obsess over the need to be free, we assume ourselves victims of some fast-approaching enemy […]
One Month in Quarantine
A long while ago, in what now feels like another life, I was a painter–acrylics on canvas. I took it seriously enough that my portfolio at one point won me a $50,000 visual arts fellowship. I was, however, a terrible student of art. Something about being “assigned” an art project or having to work with […]
Quarantine, Day 27
My N-99 masks came–two of them with filters on the mask. They are black and make me look like Bane from the Batman series. To be honest, I’d feel guilty for having ordered them, knowing in hindsight they could’ve gone to someone in a hospital, except I ordered them back in February, before anyone was […]
Quarantine, Day 25
My dad used to drive this black pick-up truck with a red velvet interior. It’s maybe one of the first vehicles I can remember from our childhood. The interior smelled like his tobacco that he used for his pipe. He would tape a calendar and other notes to the dash, and rumbling noises from the […]
The Lie of the ‘Great American Resurrection’
Last week when Trump said he wanted the country “open by Easter,” a Fox News anchor referred to it as the “great American resurrection.” The reference to the Easter tradition, celebrating the resurrection of Jesus, is an obvious attempt to signal to Trump’s evangelical base that this president really is a person of faith, a […]
From Quarantine to the Cemetery
Taking daily strolls in the cemetery, because it’s the closest thing to me that resembles a park, has become a pastime of sorts during this quarantine. In some ways, it’s more sacred to me than stepping into a house of worship. The names and numbers and epitaphs tell so many stories, while simultaneously leaving much […]
