Featured Writing

Thirteen 13-Syllable American Sentences for Allen Ginsberg

by Christopher Stolle We’re too constrained already,but we’ll do what we can. We sing this hymn to praise you,but we’ve forgotten words. We sit at your chinin this sweet lotus position. Drop your wisdom on uslike petals floating upstream. Tell about supermarketsand howling censorship. We, your staunch disciples,adhere to each…

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Author Archive

Volleyball net in an empty gym

Time Lords

by Michael McGrath At the start of the 1983 school year, after having failed to land a suitable teaching position following my graduation from university, I approached the high school where I’d been a student teacher about the possibility of volunteering as a coach. Because of my job at a…

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Orange rotary telephone

Wake-Up Call

by Michael McGrath When awakened by a telephone call at some ungodly hour, I’d like to think I’m not alone in my reaction to it. Throwing back the covers, I scramble out of bed, and when I finally locate my phone I’m hesitant to pick it up, automatically assuming that…

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Two hippies signaling a car on a dirt road

Ninety-ninth Percentile

by Michael McGrath When I received my first report card in the fall of 1967, I was afraid to bring it home. Unlike most of my friends, who had a collection of As, Bs, Cs—and the occasional D—to show for their efforts, the only grade featured prominently on my card…

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