A.G.E's Joint

A piece of cardboard Slipped into a folder As I walk up to the table Two older men smile and hand out glossies. Many years ago, they were on separate teams Each a star in their own right Locked in a race For the most home runs hit.that year I'm kind of nervous Would he sign this? And make  twelve-year-old me happy "Mr. Stargell?" The grin lights up the room "Willie." Holding out his hand "Would you sign my card?" He takes the card and shows the other man "Hey, Hank. You recognize this young man?" "You look good in that." He laughs Another guy in the crowd pulls out his card "What about us? Willie asks "Where have they all gone?" "We kind of got old," Hank replied Left them behind "You boys have made our day." They said as they gave us our cards back And the free glossies. We were happy.  Note-These are not my baseball cards. I sold my Stargell card not long after his death when a dealer gave me a d...

It took fifteen minutes to find a parking space. The wind was cold against Emily's face as Kristy undid the buckles of the seat. With a tug, the pink jacket untangled and the little redheaded child tumbled to the ground, but she wasn't one of those whiny kids. She immediately bounced up and brushed the rough sand from her knees and inspected her tights. No tears, good. As she began to look around, the huge granite rock smiled at her over the tops of the trees with their red and yellow leaves. Emily excitedly pointed at it. "Ooh, look at the big rock, Daddy."   "Yes, Sweetie. That's Stone Mountain."   "Can you climb up to the top?"   "Yes, you can and maybe we will another day. We're doing something else today."   "But I want to climb to the top!" Her face flushed. Jimmy knelt down to her level and in a quiet voice he said:   "If you act like that, we'll go home and you won't see...

Rrrnnng. Rrrnnng. Good Evening. Welcome to Devil’s Quill Communications. My name Agent Harpy, how may I be of service?   Your competitor is gaining too much ground and is an all around jerk? Yes, Sir, we handle ego problems through our “Because, I Am” division. They have programs to inflate and then explode the most stubborn of spirits. We believe that self praise shouldn't be a recommendation for someone. What is your competitors’ line of work…Professional online gaming? I’ll need to check, he may already be a client of ours, his name? The Pierced Clown? Yes, we have an account. In fact he is one of our employees, in our Game of Life Online division.He has handled our Quality Assurance since the days of Job. Every stud and ring represents people of have complained or mocked his unfair ways. Sir? Oh, don’t bother hanging up, Sir. We already have your address and he will be by to see you shortly.  Have a warm day. Click.   ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~...

It was an unusually warm Christmas Eve at my Uncle Archie's house.  My family had driven to Savannah from Orlando with a car load of "Santa" gifts. I was 10, and had pretty much figured Santa for a ruse, but I really didn't want to let go of the fantasy.  It took away from my parents fighting again and my Dad had lost his job.  There wasn't a partridge in the pear tree for us, just ravens in the live oaks along the dock. The launch of Apollo 8 was on the morning we left, so we delayed our start to see it. The cartoons that touted and mocked the inventions of the future were about to come true.  All the scoffing about lunar travel and it’s impossibility silenced for all time.   Our house was 40 miles west of the launch pad and the schoolyard at the end of the street made viewing launches easy. We could see the glint off the fantastical machine as the craft vectored away from shore.  When the dot made 15 degrees over t...