“The frosted window, above my kitchen sink, wasn’t open so I couldn’t make out the words, only what sounded like the noise of squabbling blue jays.”

We make a point of fitting everything into carry-ons for the convenience, I told him. Only now I could no longer remember what convenience justified.

“I understood that a crying man was not a gay man, and Stainless and I were not friends.”

“Why did you put your eye on other things? Why did it all go on without you?”

“Every day is an offering, and I am giving bits of myself to you. I am overcome with a sudden grief.”

“The desert tests the faith of even the most committed. When I received orders to deploy here, I imagined sand dunes and shimmering heat.”