Josh took the keycard from the hotel receptionist with a rueful smile. He had never once seen himself as a victim, but the absences caused by his brain injury were inconvenient sometimes, to say the least. By the time the world had begun to make sense again, the last train had departed, and Josh needed to find somewhere for the night. The budget hotel was a roof over his head, so it met his needs. These things happened an...

Marge was sitting at the small table, looking out the window and wringing her hands together. Her eyes were moist; not full of tears, not yet, but right on the verge. When she heard me enter, though, the first one slid down her cheek. “Charlie, baby. We need to talk.” That phrase never presaged a happy conversation. Everyone, man or woman, married or single, knows that. I knew it better than most. Sitting down in the chai...

You remember Sonic the Hedgehog: that old-school 8-bit scrolling game where the hedgehog rushes forward, looping and soaring into the sky, snagging golden rings by the handful, every captured treasure announced by the narcotic casino ding of a fight bell in a boxing ring. I’m a middle-aged man, and happily married, but on Christmas morning in 2022 when the kids downloaded Sonic on the Nintendo and I heard all those fuckin...

"Come, Cara. We'll have a little pleasure. Then you'll be able to sleep." Nodding to his caring face, I follow to our bed. The love is short and sweet. Rolling apart, I wait for his soft, snoring purr before thinking of her. My fingers mimic her hidden touch, taking me in the pool as others walk by. Our garden tryst, shaded from the sun. One finger deep, then slowly, two. Her bed, that leer between my legs. The memories c...

For me, he is Paris and cigarettes. He takes me to a time when I was younger and the world was gritty: a time of experimentation and wonder. I have not passed into antiquity, but I have passed into experience. When he comes to me, I return to that raw, passionate time. He takes me back. Back to first times. Newness. Introductions. To the me that was purely myself. He transports me. It is his time now, as it once was mine....

Our heady daysof sex surpriseset us ablazebetween our thighsand masked the fearthat nothing moremade us adhereat thirty-four. The sweaty heatof burning lustmade Hope's conceitincongruous. Your desperate grasp,my frenzied kiss,our unveiled gasp,left us remiss. The Future gavethis to impart:"Though you've been brave,you’re best apart." Razed callously,we steeply fell.Now, wondrously,I wish you well. Yes, on Love’s Day,I wis...

It's a few hours before opening time at Duke's. Rita and I are going over plans for a 75th birthday party we're throwing a week Wednesday night. Sal Harper is one of our favorite regulars. A retired ACLU attorney, she's sassy, spirited, and needle-sharp, with a bottomless supply of stories about the city's queer history. Besides that, she's made herself Duke's unofficial mother hen, giving out advice and support to any of...

Three knocks, then another I peer throught the peep Been a year-- no, almost two And the memories flood back Our bodies intertwined In bed and soapy tub, in the meadow and the car Heads and hands between begging legs, not caring who knows You, the ideal of today's clean perfection And I the graceless antithesis Such different selves, but of no matter to us Our love was greater than such petty social attributes Until it wa...