A man sat down beside me on the streetcar with a lit joint. I decided to move, keeping my opinions to myself.

Later in the day at my local convenience store the man behind me said, “Is that Haken Das all for you?”

“Yes.”

The next morning near the recycling bins a young crack addict searched the ground for… something that isn’t there.

My cat Gigi is dying… kidney failure. She can’t get enough water. She searches the bathtub drain for… something.

I am alone this weekend because my daughter wanted to stay with her mother and I am getting by.

We are not together because of something that isn’t there.

Dennis Mantin