A dialogue on language for a more inclusive society — I grew up in Seattle — on traditional Coast Salish land — in the ’60s and ’70s. As a child, I didn’t truly understand the counterculture protests and the civil rights movement. Still, I saw that music, fashion, and hairstyles were changing — and with them, attitudes. I was —…

setting in the west the red sun of the east spills into the sea. young lovers on the waterfront tongues like tangerines and radishes stain their shirtfronts with the wet flower of the sun. soaking my head among the red kite fish kites swimming fatly along the waterfront dark eyed children play like dogs dizzy from…

twilight yawns over the sea caramel orange and mahogany and beds down with a blanket of waves amongst the starfish a sea of stars twilight the erotic touch of near darkness shade of lavender a tender push of lips the longing of the mysterious and silent lover who adores from a stranded…

we called the clouds in for this occasion and set them to thunder and cymballine rain we heard the drum ring loose and laughter clap the air we danced barefoot fresh rain splashing cool on our skin the dustdin sticking to us with muddy spots raindance rushed my face with tears i…

I sit alone in my car in the Metro station parking lot, the chill wind filtering through the cracked window. It is quiet—very quiet—and dark. I am watching the taxicabs. Oily black and aging metal, the taxicabs extend the line with mindless purpose—coasting, pushing, taking up room. And then, after…

Every stamp has a story — The art of stamp collecting — philately — might seem like a thing of the past, given how much these days we use email, social media, and shared drives in the cloud to send messages, documents, and photos. But postage stamp collections are anything but passé. My millennial friends who…

There were container trucks everywhere, most of them backed into black-bumpered loading docks, which were at a height that only our heads were high enough to see over. We didn’t care. Our attention was focussed downwards, intent on scanning the gravelled staging area for bright pieces of metal. We were…

My brother and I used to collect all kinds of things, but one of the more expensive activities that resulted in uneven collections were our respective obsessions with plastic models — small versions of larger things that we had to assemble ourselves with glues and cements. Both of us had…

Product placement has always been a part of many a corporate strategy to get goods and services recognized and top-of-mind, from daytime television shows originally sponsored by US soap manufacturers to fast food characters in bright, cartoonish costumes. And so, somehow my brother and I received the ultimate take-home promotion…