Nobody’s Birthday by Howie Good
“seen by others becomes how we see ourselves, the little dot above the letter ‘i.’”
Fiction by Howie Good
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1
The sky bubbles for effect. Birds and fish, proud, insolent, and free, watch the lights fade. A simple rule-based morality doesn’t work. The more it’s like boats in a fog, the better. Some strange man with an accent asks if I’m waiting for the lovers to arrive. I just smile and shake my head. The important thing is that fire burns upwards.
2
Although still daylight, the moon was faintly visible by the time I reached the streets named for trees – Maple, Birch, Oak, etc. It was an area almost without any actual trees, but full of old brownstone churches and empty storefronts. Grandmas stood in the doorways swapping stories. “Like us on Facebook,” one of them mockingly called after me. I just walked faster. There was a lot to think about. I kept wondering if how we’re seen by others becomes how we see ourselves, the little dot above the letter “i.”
3
Among the 20 most common passwords is “trustno1.” What I mean is, sharpshooters might have been crouching on the roofs across the way. I held the door open for a woman who was entering just as we were leaving. Very few people ever came to have a look. They didn’t know that death could be so beautiful.
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Header image courtesy of Anne Nawrocka. To view her photo essay "Sleepless Curbside," for NAILED, go here.
Howie Good’s latest poetry collections are Bad for the Heart (Prolific Press) and Dark Specks in a Blue Sky (Another New Calligraphy). He is recipient of the 2015 Press Americana Prize for Poetry for his forthcoming collection Dangerous Acts Starring Unstable Elements.