Eric Burke: BY NATURE

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The vacant field in which my father's dandelions were growing was now on fire. Neighbors whose yards bordered the field were rushing in, shouting, trying to beat the fire out with shovels. He was, I saw, among them.

whatever the opposite of fine

that kind of marker—

painting my toenails black

by Eric Burke

Columbus, Ohio

Eric Burke: LOSING A THUMB

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Someone long ago hammered a nail into the maple that was now ours. At 8, I became enamored of slip-knots; listen, if I tell it right, you can almost hear me screaming, my father busy in the basement, my mother frantic trying . . . .

belly exposed to the sky
watching wind in the locust trees

by Eric Burke

Columbus, Ohio