Stories

Strolls; encounters; kisses through closed gates; lighted windows seen from below; rumpled bedsheets turning up men’s shirts . . . These are just a few of the images in August Stramm’s poetry collection titled “DU” (“THOU”).

What follows is a complete, fresh-look translation of the thirty-one poems of this set.

I am told this is a "Haibun" or "Quick Writing," as it is translated. It is a partial narrative, and partial poetic treatment of a very difficult journey I am even now completing.

Adam Walsh is a popular small-town Irish boy who gets paired with the new arrival in town. Ross, however, is a city boy, hailing from London. Being total opposites, they somehow manage to cross paths. What starts as nervous giggles and jittery speech turns into a bond that will forever change both teenagers, as they'll experience something more than friendship. How will the boy's parents, friends, and love for each other come together? Will it either work in their favor or wedge them apart forever?

Levi is looking for love. The problem is that he's looking everywhere and ignoring the person that has been by his side for years.

When an otherwordly anomaly swallows Times Square on April 13 of 2018, New Yorkers all over the city are forced to confront a reality that is rapidly collapsing on itself. Each chapter of this multigenre anthology follows a different character at different points in time during an ongoing Apocalypse.

I'd crushed on other guys before, my cousin Jericho was my first experience with pure, unadulterated love.

Young music producer Sebastian Santos has operated on his own for as long as he can remember. He has found comfort in doing things for himself. However, one by one, the few relationships he has in his life begin to shift, starting with his first heartbreak, and now he must find a way to play on.

Matt and Jeff have volunteered to help out at the school Fair For Life. As usual with his boyfriend, there's a small catch involved, and Matt has let Jeff talk him into accepting it. That he might regret it is almost certain!

A short story written seven years ago, one of the first I ever posted anywhere.

Charlie and his friends have gotten their business, Third Planet Inquiries, rolling. After a slow start, job inquiries have been coming in, and they have launched into solving unusual mysteries all over the planet and beyond. So when a man contacts them about investigating a house that refuses to be renovated, the guys are off on another adventure that will take them to the ends of the earth, and more!

Verse written for my husband in the 90s