Fish gotta swim, birds gotta fly, writers will go to stupefying lengths to get the infernal roar of words out of their skulls and onto paper.

This will be Great Mam's last spring. Her last June apples. Her last fresh roasting ears from the garden.

When you're given a brilliant child you polish her and let her shine. Pigs in Heaven

Once the rains abated, my father's garden thrived in the heat like an unleashed temper.

Height isn't something you can have and just let be, like nice teeth or naturally curly hair. People have this idea you have to put it to use, playing basketball, for example, or observing the weather up there. If you are a girl, they feel a particular need to point your height out to you, as if you might not have noticed.

I don't *ever* write about real people. Art is supposed to be better than that. If you want a slice of life, look out the window.

Given my own circumstances, I find that anything can turn out to belong nearly anywhere.