A refrigerator and a dinner wagon
Two tales of Hungarians on the move The refrigerator – Austria, 1988 Grandma is sitting in the backseat, loaded (hardly able to move, effectively locked) into the car. Her currency…
Dealing With Change
It’s impossible not to notice. Things, stuff, the landscape, the society, acquaintances have all changed while I wasn’t looking. Certain life patterns are disrupted. Cars don’t need an oil change…
Arrivals
I met Justine on Tinder when I was in Nice. It didn’t take us long to work out a date, and when we met, I knew we were going to…
Popcorn, Shiny Floors
She is on her knees, her hands dropped on her lap. The tiles are grey and dirty under her skin. She knows the cracks on them by heart. Mr. Wong…
The Good People
Both the spring and I arrived quietly to Rua dos Fanqueiros of Lisbon’s Baixa Chiado. We brimmed over the cusp of the midnight that delineated us from winter’s end. The…
In Ohio, All Things Are Possible
There’s an old joke that claims 22 astronauts have been from Ohio. The joke-teller then asks: “What is it about your state that makes people want to flee the Earth?”…
Dotage
The sun sets on the horizon, tickling the sea before an apricot spread in the sky. The boats undulate with the waves, rocking in the harbour, and Hanna watches the…
Freedom comes from within, not from without
Imagine yourself standing completely alone in a small room surrounded by high walls with no light. There is also no door and no window. You start running around with your…
The Frozen Sea Within
She is leaving me. Her warmth, her love, her kindness have already left. In the nights I drift further away from familiarity. Slumbers take me into new unknowns, the days…
The Silent Mistress of Time
I’ve been a witness to a terrible secret kept by one of Warsaw’s few ascendants to the dreary socialist blocks that hang about the streets today. She, stubbornly, still stands…