living

after Dad retired from the RCMP he had a rough re-entry into civilian life as a realtor, where you had to explain yourself. he was used to acting with authority in public. although he wasn’t much of a cook, he loved cooking stir fry in a big wok. golf was his church. he had a … Read more

i’m camped out, third floor of a condominium complex, two flights up from a parking lot overflowing with white diesel work trucks. a mattress set rests on the floor, my bed. the wheels of my suitcase are anointed with red dust. this is a sacred place. it’s hanging in the air like smoke; i feel … Read more

in 1991, i worked at The Royal Ottawa as a psych nurse and i admitted a middle-aged man, whose name i cannot recall (not that i can say because i cannot break client confidence) for the weekend. he was a paranoid schizophrenic and for his entire psych life, he’d suffered persistent delusions that the Russians … Read more