The Tree with a Thousand Faces About Place, October 2019 nominated for a 2020 Pushcart Prize To clear millions of acres of longleaf pine was a Herculean effort, a battle between foes equally determined. One sent roots down so deep no man could dig them out. The other used every tool available, including the blood and sweat of slaves.
Backyard Alchemy The Common, September 2018 It’s possible alchemists knew they might never succeed, that obtaining gold was not the reason they kept on.
When Pittsburgh Comes Tumbling Down South Carolina Review, Spring 2018 Ailanthus altissima: “no tree has been at once the subject of so much undeserved praise and of such ignorant and foolish abuse.”
The River Where I Came from, the River Where I’m Going Puerto del Sol, December 2017 The river and I both lived in the city, traversed it, dug into it. We both spent years of our lives trammelled by Los Angeles power brokers. We both emerged bearing scars from the journey. This is our story.
Years of the Ox Kartika Review, Fall 2009 nominated for a 2010 Pushcart Prize My grandfather’s first language was Chinese, but the kindergarten teachers at Pahoa Grammar School smacked it out of him with their rulers.
Gender Alchemy: The Transformative Power of Manga The Horn Book Magazine, September 2007 Just as in As You Like It, changing gender is liberating, an escape from parental strictures, and a means of getting the things one wants.