We begin with “The Clothes I Was Wearing,” by Sandy Ebner.  Usually I like to say a few introductory words about a piece, both to praise the writer and to intrigue the reader.  In all humility, I don’t feel even remotely qualified to add anything to this essay—to speak of it here would only be to detract from its terrible power.  Please read it for yourself and allow yourself to feel what you are going to feel.  And feel it you will.

 

J. Lauren Lax’s “The Locksmith: A Memoir” is less unsettling, but just as intensely complex.  How does a married person deal successfully with feelings for another person?  This essay is no soap opera, but a narrative exploration—masterfully executed—of the interior and exterior emotional jungles that exist when we are relating deeply to two people at the same time.  Lax is a new writer who very much merits watching.

 

Few pieces on dark subjects are as compelling as Richard Margolis’s “A Walkthrough of the Last Year and a Half, Being Accepted To Fresno State.”  The essay’s title and its theme—major depression—may lead you to believe that this is a mundane or perhaps even a dreary trek.  It is neither.  Margolis’s emotional honesty would be enough to carry the piece if he were not a very accomplished writer, and as it happens, he is a highly accomplished writer.  Do not miss out on this essay.

 

I am grateful to Nan Cuba for sending me her “Love, Memory.”  There is a popular prejudice that says that highly intelligent, complex, intense, literary writing can’t possibly be an engaging read.  I’m happy to demolish that untruth by publishing this rewarding and richly compelling essay that has so much to say about human relationships.

 

Finally, as many of you who follow me on Facebook will know, I have been caring for my parents in their house since 2008, when they both had serious strokes. Everything I make from my own writing goes toward keeping them living in dignity and freedom in their own home. Please consider downloading one of my titles from my virtual bookshelf on Amazon here. If you don’t have a Kindle, you’ll be happy to learn that the Kindle App downloads for free onto a wide variety of devices here.

Thank You!