That boy hardly needed a mask when his naked face was already impenetrable.

Teachers were both blamed for everything that went wrong with kids and turned to for their every salvation. This dual role of scapegoat and savior was downright messianic but even Jesus was probably paid better.

That boy hardly needed a mask when his naked face was already impenetrable.

Built like an oak tree, against which I could pitch my pillow and read; mornings, I could curl into the crook of your branches.

Though surely to avoid attachments for fear of loss is to avoid life.

For that matter, thinking of one's self as exceptional is probably more the rule than not.

Many, if not most, countries blithely expect their citizens to have carte blanche access to the U.S., "land of immigrants," as a veritable human right, but put up all manner of barriers to Americans who want to emigrate in the opposite direction.