How to cut wood from a fallen tree
The sturdy roots of a giant oak were snapped by stormy winds before its trunk keeled over behind our cabin in the snow. No…
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Biscuit World
We stop at Biscuit World on the way home from my father’s funeral. Leave the flatlands of North Carolina, cross the border into the…
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Reverend Doctor Garbage Man
As a garbage man, I probably know more about the people on my route than their pastor does. John Marboe This delightful StoryCorps piece…
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Sunday school lessons
As a child, I can’t say I enjoyed going to church much. I was a busy little boy, always yearning to be on my…
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Tears come
The tears start at the back of the eye. I suppress all thoughts of death and blink several times. They retreat. I press my…
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Country roads, take me home
I kick back the blankets and willingly rise at 7:00. It’s Saturday morning in early October, and Dad’s driving into town. He does this…
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Dad, 1944
Berlin, Ohio (Photographer Unknown) My first response to this photo was thinking about its simplicity. There’s a certain spare quality in this simple picture…
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My boy will know
Editor’s note: Each Thursday, we feature a throwback piece from Topology’s predecessor, catapult magazine. In this poetic essay, Chris Smit riffs on a theme…
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