Originally published in the Hamtramck Review In my kitchen there is a pile of clean milk cartons, collapsed cereal boxes, aluminum cans, an empty jug of laundry soap. This pile is there because it doesn’t belong in the garbage, yet I have nowhere else to put it. I used to utilize the monthly recycling pick-up […]
Originally published in MetroTimes There is something jarring about flipping between the news stories of General Motors’ Detroit-Hamtramck Assembly Plant closing and Fiat-Chrysler’s new east side facility breaking ground. When a plant opens, public and private sectors invest together, with millions in tax subsidies, land deals, and other incentives from local government. When a plant […]
The people I know say bad things about lawns. They know about monoculture and monotony and suburbs. They defend the dandelion and they weep for the weed and dream blindly of how better times used to be. But when I was ripping up grass in my back yard to make room for a garden, I […]
I met Marija twice. The first time when I was working as a property surveyor around Hamtramck. I took pictures of properties and recorded data from the sidewalk. I saw this eager woman with a strong accent standing on her porch and, before I knew it, she was dragging me by my upper arm into […]
As published in Riverwise magazine How state policy legalized the destruction of Detroit. Detroit is a city with so much to lose and so little to spare. Popular narratives which attempt to describe Detroit’s struggles resort to abstract reasoning, such as the ‘invisible hand of market forces’. Other times, corporate submission to global market trends […]
What god or scientific force would put the sun and moon on course to grant us an eclipse? What trick of serendipity would let their size appear to be a truly perfect fit? On other days, they square with Mars, or some assembly of […]
There is no excerpt because this is a protected post.
Also published in the Hamtramck Review One thing that unites all Hamtramck residents is our distress over our water bills. Bills seem to get higher and higher every year, even as we confront challenges to the quality of our water. This year, Hamtramck has simultaneously shifted toward automated water meter while reducing our ability to […]
I woke up at 6am. Very tired. I had gone to be at 2 or maybe 3 while Molly, Evan and an affable neighbor sat at the dining room table stickering and cutting papers like elves and manipulating spreadsheets. One of the elves left me a present at the bottom of the stairs- it was […]
Audio Its a long way between can and do. You’re at the strange age- not young but so new- staring at the vastness of space from your mattress on the floor, Praying for that small grace to rise once more. Work another long day that ain’t working for you. Bringing home that minimum wage is […]
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