I told everyone, when I wrote the note I was thinking of sand.

I told everyone, when I wrote the note it was sand.

My mother knows nothing

more than I do but she carries it better.

If she were a metaphor I could turn into her.

As if any of them would give a damn about him, some washed-up vet from the Korean War, one of the wars they don’t really teach about in school, because the jury’s still out on whether we won.

Steinke artfully details how we lose our vitality, our stamina and our abilities, bit by bit, organ by joint. After the book’s tour through disease and misfortune, I’d come to feel lucky for my health.

I like the look of old, liver-spotted hands
Playing Rachmaninov with complete agility
Pounding out the chords or whispering the pianissimi

"My stories often start with some image or moment that stays with me... It could be something I experienced, or a conversation I overheard, or the way someone looked at someone else… I will usually just start writing toward that image or moment and build from there."