Monday, November 24, 2008



Roger knew well enough
what he wanted to do,
but he wasn't certain if
he would know just how
to go about it.

In the end
that didn't matter,
however,
because Grace did.

James McKimmey
The Perfect Victim
1958

Monday, November 17, 2008



They said the leg was going
to be as good as ever,
but it wasn't.
You could see that by
the end of the first week
of practice.
I couldn't pivot and
swing fast enough to
go with the play even
when I saw it coming,
and they ran through me
like B-girls through
a sailor's bank-roll.

Charles Williams
"The Big Bite"
1956

Monday, November 10, 2008


As he took his woman,
the fire was solely his own fire
and there was the sordid and dismal feeling,
and finally the downright horrible feeling,
of being alone in the bed.

David Goodis
Cassidy's Girl
1951

Monday, November 3, 2008



The ghosts
of sad, cheap souls
live on
in sad, cheap furniture.

Ryu Murakami
In the Miso Soup
1997
(translated by Ralph McCarthy)