Sanctuary
Sean MurphyI visited my mother’s grave the first several years for the same reason I used to attend church: it was expected, it was meant to make me feel better, it…
Rock Island: 1989-2019
Fall '89 My good friend, and brother Tony James reminds me that today is the 30th anniversary of Rock Island. It was love at first listen and, in hindsight, the…
This Creeping Malaise
Of course, what we write about is what we think about, and what we think about is invariably influenced by what we’re doing, what we’re reading, what we’re ceaselessly reacting…
Some of the Things Toni Morrison Means to Me
I’m not certain if it has anything to do with what you study in college, or the type of person you already are (of course the two are not mutually…
Melville at 200 and, of course, Moby Dick
Herman Melville is not only, arguably, our most American author; he is America. Author of the most successful second act in literary history (posthumous, alas), Melville is sui generis as…
Funeral for a Friend
Life is strange. I had a wonderful day today: I cleaned, I cooked, I took a long, restorative walk, I wrote a poem, I watched the Red Sox, I enjoyed…
The Long Way Home: July 28, 1979
This is the first essay in my second collection of non-fiction, Murphy's Law Vol Two. If I ever need to check myself and consider what a privileged life I’ve led,…
1455’S TEEN POETRY CONTEST: THE WINNERS AND THEIR POEMS
2019 Summer Literary Festival Teen Poet Contest Awards Grand Prize ($500 Award): Taylor Fang, “Solstice,” “Prehistory” Second Prize: Sabrina Guo, “Huài shì h?o shì” (“Evil Things, Good Things”) Third Prize: Kaja Rae Lucas,…
Rebel’s Rebel: RIP, Anthony Bourdain (One Year Later)
What a sad anniversary. Still, it seems selfish, even ungrateful, to lament all the amazing adventures he left unexplored when he gave us a body of work that will provide…
Bill Buckner, Mookie Wilson and Me (Revisited)
October, 2011. I've never been able to appreciate the aesthetic perfection (that is to say, the perfection of baseball's most imperfect play; it's most jarringly incongruous moment) because it was…