(2019)
Smoke break, Wilmington, Del.
Bending steel, Hartford, Conn.
(2021)
Airing laundry, Cléden-Cap-Sizun, Bretagne, France
(2017)
Sidewalk fashion, Philadelphia
(1984)
Sea rescue, Atlantic Ocean*
Low tide, full moon The skipper heard the call coming over marine radio and knew from his current position that he was probably the closest vessel to render aid. He radioed the USCG that he was en route, then did the mental checklist. He knew he’d been prepared for this event, should it occur, for years now. He had extra PFDs, foil thermal blankets for shock symptoms, an overfull first-aid kit, a floating light beacon, water and other provisions. There was just one thing he forgot. (1991)
*A backyard in Delaware County, Pa.Time traveler, New Orleans
(2005)
Bricks, Erie, Pa.
(2019)
Before the rain, Avalon, N.J.
(2020)
Rehearsal space, Philadelphia
“E flat into G sharp minor? No.” Chris Larkin (1984)
The W&J, Northern Liberties, Philadelphia
“Youth must keep decently away.” (Eugene O’Neill) The first time I entered this joint, on a late night in spring, my friends and I had to be buzzed in. It was named the W&J, at 5th & Poplar Sts., and both Walter and Juliette, the aging Polish couple who owned it, were on the other side of the door along with absolutely no one else. There were handwritten signs prohibiting cursing. This was the Philadelphia few knew. I moved into the neighborhood a couple years later, at the cusp of its gentrification, and not long after that the place was sold to a couple of guys in their 30s who turned it into what would then have been called a hipster bar. The guys were OK, but the secret weirdness was gone. (2001)
