The Stain on our Souls (flash fiction)

The old man speaks of phantoms. He lay on his death-bed, and his face is ashen and sickly.

“Our home,” he says, “it’s haunted. Haunted by my sins. Haunted by my father’s sins, and his father’s sins.”

“What do you mean?” I ask.

Continue reading “The Stain on our Souls (flash fiction)”

Book Review: The Golem and the Jinni by Helene Wecker

I’m always reading heavy and serious books like Kafka, the classics, or dystopian science fiction. So I decided recently to read something a little more light-hearted for a change of pace.

The book I picked up was from Rachel’s shelf – The Golem and the Jinni, a 2013 debut novel from Helene Wecker. The novel still has some serious themes, but it wasn’t the type of angsty existentialism I usually dig into.

Continue reading “Book Review: The Golem and the Jinni by Helene Wecker”

Melting Glacier/Ego (a poem)

I got an ego the size of a glacier

but I hope it’s meltin’

like them ones in the Artic

I used to say I was sick

in the head

but that was self-contempt

I’ve since given up –

I’m just like everyone else

a homo sapien not fully evolved

plagued by panic, all that crap –

snap, crackle, pop! I’m locked

in the house, quiet as a mouse

thinking of myself too much

what about thinking of others?

oh brother, here I go again

beating myself up

give it up!

(Photo by Elisa Clairet on Unsplash)

Note: This poem was inspired by a prompt on dVerse to do a “self-portrait.” The title of the post was, “Come and take a selfie!” Here’s a link to the dVerse post where the prompt is!