Essays

To speak of life without death is to describe sound without silence. One shapes the other. They are opposites yet contain complementary rhythms. But in Verdun, these two are entangled in a way that is difficult to separate. The fighting…

We see the world through high resolution filters. Brands become our chaperones to exotic landscapes. Never mind the break in aesthetic—the golden arches pop-up along the interstate while driving through Death Valley like the sudden appearance of a roadside oasis.…

I didn’t know how to be this kind of parent. Until this moment, I’d followed a prescribed path: packing lunches, ferrying my kids to and from school, serving balanced meals, running baths in the evening. I aspired to be unremarkable,…

my parents didn’t believe me that biking made no sense to my body & they told me I was too afraid & I tried to believe them & I rode where they told me to ride even though I knew…

Wendy tells me I snore so loud she can’t sleep. It’s not the first time she’s said this, but I don’t bother apologizing this time. Your septum’s already fucked up, you can’t do anything about it. For some reason, it…

Some people made long pilgrimages to marvel at this superlative specimen. Other people, like the girl growing up in a nearby suburb, got to know SUE through happy proximity. And because her grandma—my grandma—volunteered at the Field Museum. What I’m…

In the blink of an eye he slipped under. The flash of a foot popped through the river’s amber hue downstream from where he’d been. I stood on the side of the bank. Other swimmers reached into the river from…