March 16th, 2026 - The City is a Graveyard
Dear TNY,
I’m on time again, and I just finished “The City is a Graveyard” sitting on my favorite stool in The Valley Tavern, a place which I have written at least fifty letters to you.
I felt the writing in this story was crisp. Compressed. The pacing was good. The style was clean and tight. And I’m always a sucker for a short story that’s one scene (I consider this one scene even though she meandered through flashbacks). I guess what I’m saying is that this story, mechanically, is well done.
But…
I got hit by the second person present tense POV curse. I did not relate to the character at all and I wasn’t even a quarter of the way through that I became annoyed and frustrated with all the decisions I was being told I made and why I made them. We have stated on this channel before that second POV can be a difficult hurdle to overcome for this very reason. It can be difficult to get total buy-in from the reader because we don’t like to be told what to do, let alone be told to do things that we don’t see ourselves doing. It’s harder to suspend the disbelief. Which is fine. I’m sure there are some women out there who really relate to this story and my guess is, based on the quality of the writing, this story will really stick with them. It won’t for me.
To be VERY clear, my opinion is not based on the abortions or that topic at all. I think I have been consistent about my feelings on that subject for many years now, on and off these pages. And that is that when I or anyone else on this planet has the ability to grow another human life inside them, then they can have an opinion at the table. Without that entry fee, the best anyone can hope for is to be asked to be in the conversation, but that’s not a given.
My beef, actually, was how selfish the woman was. What did she do for anyone in this story? Have a fantasy about being married to a guy and being his dutiful wife (also, again, I don’t think women should all be champing at the bit to be dutiful wives; that was just the example given by the MC)? So she did some nice things for another human in a fantasy? Nice. Her selfishness was what I couldn’t abide. It was in every decision she made, which, by POV proxy, was every decision I made. And I wouldn’t make them.
And the guy on the bench was exactly right. She will not have anyone to wipe her ass when she grows old. Not because she doesn’t have kids, but because she’s selfish. And for her to look back at him and think he is selfish because he had kids so they could do that for him? Maybe he didn’t mean his kids at all. Maybe he just meant anyone. Because if we make it to old age, we all are going to need help. Maybe that’s all he was saying and she took that shit harshly.
His line about her body being a cemetery was uncalled for. Wrong choice, bro.
In other news, another week has passed. Nothing has happened other than I moved locations. I was supposed to be working but I can’t get out of bed these days so I backed out of that job. Which is unfortunate because I need the money. But I can’t seem to get anything going. It feels like the end of things is coming. I mean, even globally. I used to be happy. I contained so much of it. That has been beaten out of me.
I was talking with the friend I most recently visited in Hawaii a couple of days ago. She said I was very depressed when I arrived and she didn’t know how to help. But she said she expected the guy she went with on a roadtrip from Tacoma to Phoenix. And we both agreed that guy is put away right now. In fact, none of the “good” guys I can be are out now. Just ragged-edge Nick. Right there on the brink.
But that’s enough about that shit.
Anyway, I’ll try to see you next week.
Nick
P.S. The dates on these stories are the date of the magazine issue, for ease of searching back issues. But I publish a week before the print issue because that’s when the online one is published. All that to say that tomorrow, March 10th, is my brother’s birthday. He would have been 46 years old. Instead, he died 30 years ago. Thirty fucking years.
