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Second Chances

INT. LAVON FAMILY LIVING ROOM -- NIGHTSAMMIE, a fleshy 10-year-old child wearing Incredible Hulk Pajamas, rises from the love seat with cordless phone in hand. Absent-mindedly turning the lamp… More

The Man Scribbles of Big G

Sunday – June 22, 2008Today is one of those days when a million thoughts swirl through my mind and I think to myself: “I need to write some of… More

Poinsett County

—for Uncle DaleOrange-red gravel roads crisscrossedfields where the flat farmland yieldedbales of cotton and tons of soy beans.We planted, chopped, and picked cottonfrom spring into summer through autumnfor fifty… More

A Higher Morality

I. A Moral Revolution Martin Luther King, Jr., at the height of the Civil Rights Movement, and facing three centuries of hatred, racism, and oppression, had a powerful message for… More

A Twisted Evening With Dr. Gonzo

My early literary influences naturally gravitated towards counterculture writing that started with Kerouac’s On the Road, Ginsberg’s epic poem of the Beat Generation, Howl, and experiencing the utter depths… More

Pieces of a Dream

Pieces of a DreamSmacking gum, smiling, and wearing atight mini-mini that barely coversthe imagination, she looks like shebelongs in a junior high somewhere—and even that might be a stretch.It’s… More

Learning to Swim

Gary Shively 103443 Powhatan Correctional Center, D7 State Farm, VA 23160 I am sinking. Just like a stone, I am sinking. Coils from the black icy depths pulling me under. My scream is… More

Old Letter

On your plain white envelope a handwritten address hints at the personal inside. Long time companion through many transfers and years, you have been worked soft and your stamp… More

Retired from the Game

Retired from the Game“Umm . . . excuse me, miss.” I halted the sensuous stride of the six-feet beauty of a correctional officer.“Yes?” she snapped, pausing with an attitude,… More