For RichardIt was 1984 and we were pretending to be spies.It was one of those "adult" games that twists your arm to mingle. Our host, David, greeted us at the door with a card that had our assignment ... [+]
Clint Margrave is the author of the novel "Lying Bastard" (Run Amok Books, 2020), and the poetry collections, "Salute the Wreckage," "The Early Death of Men," and "Visitor" (Forthcoming) all from NYQ Books. His work has appeared in The Threepenny Review, Rattle, The Moth, New York Quarterly, Cimarron Review, Ambit (UK), Verse Daily, and The Writer’s Almanac, among others. He lives in Los Angeles, CA., U.S.A. "Tropic of Cancer" is in Short Circuit #06, Short Édition's quarterly review.
One day, long after they were gone,cleaning out a cabinet in my grandparents' house,buried behind an earmarked bibleand a Billy Graham inspirational paperback,I found a copy of Henry Miller'sTropic of Cancer.A beautifully preserved 1960s edition,never meant to be found,the author's name unmistakably in blackover a blue and white background,the spine only slightly bent,the pages only slightly jaundicedfrom decades of dust and air.A misguided gift for a couplewho didn't really read?A book chosen by its ambiguous title?A controversial collector's itembought for novelty's sake?Or something no one