At the Top of the Stairs Entering the River of Illusions

When I was a kid growing up in Bellerose, Queens, New York City, most houses were pretty much the same.…

Four Flavors of Coffee

There’s a tendency to swallow the whole thing at once. Peanut butter and jelly isn’t just peanut butter and jelly.…

I enjoy living in Charlottesville—the mountains, the people, the wineries. But sometimes I remember something I miss from living in…

I started imagining one of those cake-decorating bags filled with icing. The kind with a small metal tip at the…

Early this morning I woke up, but not all the way. I was in that in-between place—half asleep, half awake,…

At breakfast, the senior monk sat quietly, reading while eating. Two disciples watched, puzzled. “You told us to only do…

I began with an image of a box. The box represented the background of emptiness. In one side of the…

In a world where everything — my body, my thoughts, the Earth itself — is constantly changing, what remains? This…

I imagine a long, narrow balloon — the kind used to twist into animals — filled completely with air. Not…

I remember being in junior high school, standing on the trampoline in the gym. The first time I jumped down…