I remember the room, though I was there for just ten minutes, fifty years ago. The army sergeant unlocked the classroom door as late afternoon sun, strained through aluminum blinds, glared at the linoleum floor. Fifty guys, in our teens through twenties, trooped in and headed for desks that filled the space. We’d been bussed …
Near dark, as rain stumbles in, amusement rides close one by one, and kids swarm the Polish pavilion, festooned in red and white bunting. On stage, the Polka-Aires blare brassily, moving from polka to polka, as couples, hedged in by green picnic tables, round a makeshift dance floor. Under the tables, children squat, hypnotized by …
When I asked women friends for volunteers to beta-read this anthology, a dozen stepped forward. But one said she would not look at this section: “I’m opposed to war in all forms.” I understand. Women are life’s creators and nurturers. An aversion to killing lives in most women, and many ridicule men’s penchant for war. …