When I was in my early teens I slept on a makeshift bed (a couch actually) that sat onthe small screened-in front porch of ourfarmhouse in Michigan. I only slept therea few times. A farm road fronted the porch and occasional cars or trucks passed by. Did the drivers noticeme when I arose from the couch early in themornings clothed in pajamas or a shirt and pants?I didn’t … Continue reading Makeshift Bed by Joseph Buehler
(In a middle sized Ohio town a waitress kicks a dirty fork back into the kitchen.) The Present is an unsmiling disheveled Minnesota giant who stands behind a door holding a sledgehammer in one hand and a bottle of Jim Beam in the other. The Past is an overweight mathematician who accidentally drops his chalk. When he bends over to retrieve it the students in … Continue reading A Middle Sized Ohio Town by Joseph Buehler
It’s a long way to Philadelphia unless you take the back roads. (East Philadelphia is full of greeting card writers who tend to overindulge in drink.) It’s a very long way to Nebraska by the side roads. It’s a short distance to Wyoming if you take the Utah roads. It’s a long long long way to Detroit via the Smith Cemetery route. In fact you’ll … Continue reading Philadelphia by Joseph Buehler
I have never ridden to hounds; I never expect to ride to hounds―none of my family has ever ridden to hounds and none of them― My father, before he ever was my father, once fell in love with a Swiss girl, but, I guess she didn’t want to leave Switzerland. Who would? It affected my father quite badly, you see, but he eventually recovered. It … Continue reading January by Joseph Buehler
