Every year come the Friday after Thanksgiving, Pawpaw gets to cleaning his shotgun.

It was only from the northeast that a small ship, riding high in the water, might have the good fortune to navigate the reefs to Penelar.

Venus was once thought to be a haven of life, but it's actually a far cry from the Garden of Eden originally imagined. In fact, it has a greater likeness to the biblical Hell.

They often spoke of the seed / as they sipped from a dwindling supply of absinthe, / their words tumbling from absent-minded lips / into my hiding place behind the vent.