The Absence of Shoulders

His daughter, the artist, wrote a book in colored scribble. She was scribble-age. She sat on a stool and tried not to fall off. As a politician, he explained that negotiating was the same as re-negotiating.

He walked backwards in the nursing home. The staff nudged him. He had a new respect for handrails. One day he fell over. Tall people came. They walked at an angle.

Back in bed, he wondered about perspective. I can draw, he thought. With a swipe of an outline, he added the distortion of looking up at the figure.

Author of the article

Charles Elin worked with the writer/editor, Larry Fagin, from 2012 until his recent death. Larry published a chapbook of his writing and included two of his stories in Larry’s magazine, The Delineator. Other flash fiction pieces have appeared in the Columbia Journal and Corium. Charles’ poetry has been published by Rosebud, California Quarterly, RiverSedge, The Griffin, Forge with a recent acceptance by The Lindenwood Review. By profession, he’s a psychiatric social worker in private practice.