. flattened frog the silence of early morning . every five years every cell in our bodies is replaced you don’t need to know that to know ...

The Ningxia Street night market is a jumble of hawkers and customers, the hum of propane burners, the clack-clack of spatulas in woks, and a...

This morning I roll out of bed with sore hips and limp to the toilet. Surely I’m not as old as I feel, though a glance in the mirror is inco...

“Neil!” she yells from the center of the playground, “Neil!” It’s late afternoon, almost dusk, the swing sets and slides are deserted, all t...

door open door closed no door wherever I am says Kabir an entry point but I can’t get a handle on it turning this way turning that until tur...

The campus is thick with mothers and nannies laden with cupcakes, chocolate chip cookies and cinnamon rolls. Across the quad a woman sees me...

I haven’t had a drink in five years, well, not more than a glass here and there, not since my brother died of a cocaine overdose, but I have...

I went to see my Chinese doctor this morning and wanted to say “Dr. Livingston, I presume,” but I bit my tongue, so to speak, and didn’t say...

. . family reunion pies lined up on the counter to cool I’ve spent half my life trying to explain buttermilk pie to those who haven’t had th...

. The Year of the Rat begins with severe winter storms pushing far into the south of China. In the middle of the night there’s a tremendous ...

. Having company is a kind of travel. A friend from Japan is visiting. Tonight we plan to go down to the Ping River for the Loi Kratong fest...

doctors and patients, we’re all dying— this afternoon I’ve lain in bed thinking of a world without us the nurse shaves me in places not shor...

I have a friend write a note in Chinese explaining that eight days ago I had hernia surgery and the stitches need to be removed. Rather than...

Packing for a trip to Thailand to celebrate my wife's 50th birthday, I come across my late brother's swimsuit. I've had it for a...

lift off— the dash to business class for empty seats 40,000 feet over Cambodia, heading home. One thing the flight crew neglected in going o...

. Over the weekends I park my car illegally near my apartment building and get up early Monday mornings to move it down the street to a lega...

. stepping out walking home stepping out walking home stepping out walking home stepping out walking home stepping walking stepping walking ...

. I follow her for three blocks trying to identify the flower tattooed on her calf, but for the first time in years the crosswalk lights are...

. It slipped by the proctors, an exam with no name on it. In the top right-hand corner, the line following the colon following NAME is free ...

. A hip and a shoulder on opposite sides are tightening up, giving me a sort of rolling gait. I stumble into the night splotchy-skinned, the...