I would stand as a child and watch my mother light candles on Friday nights. She would close he ... [+]
A.J. is a writer and filmmaker from Chicago, and he is currently pursuing his M.A. in English at Western Illinois University. A.J. writes critical essays, video essays, short stories, and the occasional odd poem. You can find more of his work at ajrocca.com "God is Greater" is in Short Circuit #02, Short Edition's quarterly review.
"In their search for ‘devil's gold,' as they call it, about 300 miners make a daily climb two miles up the mountain, then head downward more than 900 yards into the volcano, where the sulfur crystals form." –Coburn Dukehart writing for National Geographic Fajr Iman felt the first gray hint of light touch on his eyelid and knew the time had come for prayer. Fajr had always been the hardest prayer, and as Iman grew older, it became only more difficult. His body was like a tomb, full of silence and slow, dark dreams, and Iman wanted nothing more than to keep in these rare moments of peace a lit