Author: Guy LeCharles Gonzalez

There's a good reason for the idea that you don't discuss politics and religion in the company of strangers. Both can inspire passionate debates and sometimes, when facts and opinions aren't necessarily equal on one or both sides, that passion can overflow into outright hostility. It can interfere with one's sex life, too! That said, I'm going to lay off the politics for at least a week - both here and in the physical world - to let my own emotions settle down a bit and come to terms with the fact that I can't singlehandedly change people's minds or…

1. Thought I saw him there tonight. Could have sworn I saw something like him kneeling and waiting. My heart jumped a bit thinking that maybe he knew and came. But when I blinked, I realized that it was someone else’s him waiting for another her. I could only blink again, this time something wet and threatening to flood. Made my way to baggage claim and just stood there numb. Head down. Saw a faded pair of Levis and a pair of black and white shell toes next to me and my heart jumped again. Looked up and it was another him. He apologized for bumping into me. I wanted him to apologize for not being who I wanted him to be. And then I didn’t blink back fast enough and the tears came. I wiped them away quickly and decided to feel nothing. —Bassey
2. last night- i read ‘Getting Ronald Reagan to Visit the South Bronx’ (the greatest title i have yet to dream up for any of my pieces) and when i got off stage- i could care less what ‘my select few’ thought. it was a great moment of being really free of my own constraints and, as things turn out in life, one of the select few made it a point to comlpiment me on the new work. others gave me the polite silence and some the ‘not bad’ and they all felt the same. —Oscar Bermeo
3. My therapist, knowing this, has asked me if the general air of dread in the country has contributed to my depression; she even is pushing the idea that I’m undergoing some kind of delayed reaction to the stress I dealt with on 9/11 and in the weeks following, especially all those weeks of “travel education” (read: grief counseling/shouting matches) I ran for all the folks here at work who lost friends and colleagues. Sessions I wasn’t really qualified to run, but which I jumped in and did like a good soldier, because, you know, I’m like that. —Tony Brown (more…)