snippets

Snippets is my name for all the little things I've written over the years, often with little context. They're not usually short stories or novels. They're the types of things you scratch out on a notepad when a feeling strikes you.

A Scottish Lament: A Short Story

short story 25 min read A Scottish Lament: A Short Story

“Boy,” barked the Captain, “do you smell it?”

“Aye, sir.”

“Tell me then. From which way does the wind blow?”

“’Tis as an easterly wind, sir.”

“Indeed it is. An easterly wind. Yet we’re dancing with serpents in the heart of the Atlantic, with thousands of miles of sea to bow and stern. What might I smell, if not the salty delicacies of Atlantis?”

The young lad of seventeen said nothing.

“Boy!” said the Captain, “I’ll take a blade to your cheeks and carve out a smile if you don’t soon part with the somber mood. Tell

Wilted

snippets 2 min read Wilted

Life is a dance.

We step in varied rhythms. We swing, we glide, we dip, we fall.

We move from one dark corner of a crowded dance floor to the next. At times we lead. At times we are led.

Occasionally, we grow bold, and we waltz with a partner or tango with a muse. We elbow our way to the center of that dance floor. We shine beneath a chandelier. We bask in the light’s sparkling brilliance, moving in harmony, together as one, choosing a path, a future, a next step.

But the light is fleeting. The dance

A Lonely Duel

snippets 3 min read A Lonely Duel

They demanded confidence, and so there was confidence.  They demanded happiness, and so there was happiness.  They demanded ambition and kindness and wit, both of which were evident in every word he spoke, in every act he performed, in every nod to passersby and every smile to strangers who drifted through his days. They demanded laughter, and so he laughed. He told jokes, made clever observations, whispered wildly satirical commentary in the ears of intelligent ladies, and they laughed.  Day after day, night after night, strangers and friends alike, they demanded the world, and so he gave them the world.

Princesses

snippets 1 min read Princesses

Are you listening? No. You're lost in a world of pinwheels and shiny sparkly recycled plastic toys. Daydreaming, nightdreaming, napdreaming. Sexdreaming? What a waste. You laugh at pain and whine at happiness. You have issues. Yes, issues. The mental, emotional, intellectual belching of bitchiness. I'd take you right here, but no, I can't listen to it. I won't feed it. You'll moan and you'll scream and you'll claw your way to orgasm, licking at lusty leisurely love, but this skinless bloody monster won't be welcomed to your castle, won't be smuggled through the trapdoor of your royal thoughts.

Distance, you'll

Tell Me

snippets 2 min read words on a chalkboard

When the river crests and the floodwaters birth the wet nasty muck of a shattered life, what thoughts keep you afloat? What angels keep you dreaming? What spirits propel your arms through the current and kick your legs against a dying will? Do not shout to me of a saving grace, of a god’s plan, of a savior’s compassion. Do not whisper to me the absurd promises of mythological fads or paint rosy pictures of impossibility. Tell me the truth. Tell me the pain. Tell me the ache of longing for empty tomorrows, the human suffering of isolation.

Pathways to Atlantis

snippets 1 min read A wintry view of a body of water - Taken by Kevin Koperski

I might dive into the sea to show you a treasure, to swim the wrecks of ancient man, to lavish you with golden coins or precious silver, rubies and emeralds and jade busts of elegance and mystery. If you would join me, hold my hand and hold your breath and come.

Watch the ages drift in the current, centuries like starfish relaxing in the sand. We dive deeper, longer. We see Viking masts in the North Atlantic and galleons of the Spanish treasure fleet hiding their fortunes in the Caribbean. We discover Phoenician ceramics in the port of Alexandria, Ottoman

Wayfaring Wishes

snippets 1 min read Wayfaring Wishes

Cities conquered in a bygone era taunt the explorers and adventurers determined to discover new frontiers. “Be off! Be gone! And fare thee well. Send greetings to the Eskimos and Indians, the Cowboys, too, whoever you encounter. Deliver our indifference to the nameless. Deliver our forgiveness to your sons. Be damned in your pursuits of infamy, unless in infamy our fortunes rise. Squander to the riverbeds your local riches, to the whores and taverns, too. Demand of Her the convenience of establishment, the comfort of safety, the luxury of routine, but expect nothing from Her. And remember, fondly, the windows

That Sunny Black Dress

snippets 3 min read

Let me see you in that black dress, legs crossed and hair tossed, sitting under a pink umbrella on a sun shiny summer evening. Let me smell the lotion on your skin, see the shimmer of your hair as you chat with the ladies and sip your sangria. Let me watch you. Let me dream. Let me imagine, for a moment, for a perfect moment, you are mine, and that backyard table is ours, and that sunshine behind the apple blossom beams on our house and our fairytales.

Let me imagine, for a moment longer, that mine is yours, that