“One evening, when I asked her about the origins of her selflessness, she reminded me of how after the war, her mother, the sainted Mutti, had volunteered to house seven refugees at different…

“As a versifier, I’m aware that rime does not pay; as a recovering Presbyterian, my firmest belief is in the illusion of free will; as an essayist, I know it’s not the eloquence…

“As I was reaching for my water bottle, Quintino asked, ‘So what brings you to CP? Or as some Americans say, ‘What’s in it for you?”’ ‘Very simple,’ I said, ‘it’s the stories.’…

“If it’s just the appearance of fitness one desires, silicone pectoral implants are available for $15,000 from your local plastic surgeon. Kids get off easy: a silicone pectoral vest can be purchased for…

“Someone said that civilization began when the first hominid said, ‘Welcome’ instead of braining a traveler with his club. I used to remind my Humanities classes of that when I entered the classroom,…

“Sarah, the mother of a friend, loves to gather the clan, drive with them to the beach, and spend a week each summer in ‘The Blue House,’ a five-bedroom, clapboard rental at Cherry…

“Unlike his Greek neighbors, the author of Genesis took a different approach to the subject of man’s mortality: humans were created, He/She said, from the dust and bones found in God’s own orchard,…

“Otto’s name for the corner of the basement where my desk is located was the German ‘Kabuff,’ but that word implies a dark, dusty studio, and my stateside kabuff is ‘a clean, well-lighted…

“As a founding member of the AAAAAA, the American Association Against Acronym Abuse Anonymous, I ask your forgiveness for the epigraph above. I could not resist. The AAAAAA, which operates out of my…

“While I do appreciate the sun-ripened fruits that line my breakfast bowl, my worshipful awe stems more from Sol’s drop-mike nonchalance. As Galileo said, while Sol keeps his eight planets in line over…