The prevailing view was that Riggs Hellams was turning the trick. Leland Mortenson, slugging right fielder, was coming around. With a couple weeks to go, he was closing in on thirty homers. His strikeouts were down. He seemed happier. Those in the media who followed the team were warming to him, depicting Mortenson as …
Category: Fiction
Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell (Part Five)
Get your licks in/ While you can / Keep your future / In your hands / Don’t let the damn authorities / Dictate what you do / Always keep it in your mind just who’s / Screwing who. Riggs Hellams found an old acquaintance standing, arms folded behind him, in uniform near the …
Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell (Part Four)
Hide your money / From the man / Plant your head / In the sand / If you ain’t got insurance / Claim treatment as your right / And if you want to go to war / Send poor kids off to fight. “What in hell did you do? Piss him off?” Gary Sjakich leaned …
Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell (Part Three)
Waste your money / On a bag of weed / Take out options / You don’t need / The first time that you compromise / Well, now you’re on your way / And when you pass out on greed / That’s where you’re gonna stay It was a Sunday afternoon in Cleveland, the first …
Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell (Part Two)
Since I was just a boy / They’ve said the truth shall set you free / Sometimes it seems the truth is just a source of misery / The line is long and weary gathered at the gates of hell / Just heed the devil’s call / Don’t ask, don’t tell After a visit to the …
Little Things
Sherrill thought he was in a good mood, but he must have been wrong. He just thought he’d check out the new restaurant that had opened. He drove uptown with an open mind and a book he could open. He liked to read a while before he paid up. The women in that place rubbed …
Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell (Part One)
Claim you’re making / More than you are / Hitch your wagon / To a star / The truth is incidental / To what you gotta say / Those who can’t play ball / Are prone to fade away Riggs Hellams completed his session with the fungo, and now all he had to do …
Short Stories and Novels
I’ve been working on the novel this morning. I’m taking a break to write this blog. Then I’ll go back to the novel. It’s supposed to rain. I mowed grass yesterday. I need to go to the trash dump, and pay some bills, but, basically, my excuses have expired. It’s been useful to alternate …
Gone Back There
I’m still not sure. It seemed real, as real as anything ever. It’s impossible to discuss. I’ve got close friends, sure, but none who would believe this. Among the reasons is I wouldn’t, and I’m more gullible than most. That this happened is inconceivable. It was real. It had to be. Either that or …
The Way I Do
When I was young / I went off to college / But I flunked out ‘cause I could not pass no test / My old man barely made it past fifty / And I reckon that I’ll follow his footsteps / But it ain’t gon’ be bad health that’s gonna kill me / It won’t …
Nightrider's Lament 