How surely are the dead beyond death. Death is what the living carry with them. A state of dread, like some uncanny foretaste of a bitter memory. But the dead do not remember and nothingness is not a curse. Far from it.

“The judge placed his hands on the ground. He looked at his inquisitor. This is …”

“I’m not interested in writing short stories. Anything that doesn’t take years o…”

“You give up the world line by line. Stoically. And then one day you realize tha…”

“He poured the tumbler full. Drink up, he said. The world goes on. We have danci…”