Tip of a Leaf

That's what the pandemic viral desperados did to us, a chance to cry like never before longer besides sending us six feet under. It emptied our shared vanity, singling our lachrymose ducts, victims in our own ceremonies, and uncompromisingly masked for keeps.

Decay

My life’s course—my separation from most people, my extinguished hopes, the accumulation of final betrayals—seems almost preordained by the place where I first drew breath...

The Baseball Coach

In Alapawan prison, most of his cellmates were “separatists” advocating for the independence of Taiwan. They were able to leave their cells to do odd jobs, like cleaning restrooms, laundering clothes sent to the prison, or growing vegetables on the empty field next to the prison.