By Brant Short
multitaskers and fast-trackers demand relevance
take-aways and brevity, get to the point
no time for crazy quilt stories from someone’s grandma
they declare, they proclaim, they take a stand
proclamations open the front door and walk in uninvited
declarations draw a line in the sand and challenge you to pass
stories are different
they bubble up from our human need to share
stories look out the window and welcome passers by
stories can be cautionary, inspirational, funny
roadmaps of places to seek and places to avoid
I want to hear your stories
I want to tell my stories
I want to become our stories
nourish me with a story
a really good story
I will listen with my entire being and nothing less
—
Brant Short was raised in rural Idaho and studied history and communication in college. He retired from Northern Arizona University in 2022 after 27 years of teaching. In recent years he has turned to creative expression and has published poems in several journals, including The Limberlost Review, Backchannels, New Plains Review, and Roanoke Review. He posts essays about recent films at https://criticalrewind.com.