The Other End of the Bridge

The Other End of the Bridge

Photo: Mr. Matté , CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons The shed’s weathervane always pointed south, its flying goose rusted still. In the loft of that shed sprawled baskets of onions, harvested by the migrant crew that passed through my uncle’s farm every autumn:...
Frogger

Frogger

Photo: Lafayette, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons It was a long way from Catahoula to the Acadiana Mall in 1985. Today, according to my phone, I can drive there in fifty-one minutes. Today Ambassador Caffery goes all the way to St. Martin Parish. But in 1985 it...
Frogger

The Acadiana Mall Fairy Tales

Photo: Lafayette, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons Once upon a time in Lafayette, LA, there existed a magical kingdom known as the Acadiana Mall grand in structure and presence, the whole town and beyond journeyed on their pilgrimages to this majestic realm full of...
Hollywood Beach Pantoum (2004)

Hollywood Beach Pantoum (2004)

Photo: Marine 69-71, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons A smack of translucent jellyfish quiver like silicone implants on the shore. Tropical parrots squawk lime green gossip in the palms. At daybreak, a porno flick full of silicone implants is being filmed at the...
Overheard on the Beach on the Fourth of July, 2025

Overheard on the Beach on the Fourth of July, 2025

Photo: “Hollywood Beach Boardwalk” by epitomized1, CC BY-SA 2.0 I had a little crick in my neck and she started rubbing my back, hard. I got goosebumps and something popped. That’s when she told me never to face pain head on./ If you don’t invest, you don’t get...