Instruments of persuasion, laid before the mind’s fear-blinkered eye. A quill and some appointed relics,…

Her royalty is not in question. Mouth settling to a flaw as hearts beat faster.…

The waitress steps onto the patio for a smoke, memorizing the license plates should better-be-safe…

The cemetery is imagined, as is the weeping, filtered by black umbrellas. Couples make love…

That is as it may be, but why has the knowledge of these books kept…