084348 So when A\* suddenly shoved me in the hallway standoff with J\* and my best bud R\*. A little embarassed at having been caught off guard and flying back like that, smacking the wall even, and yet, it felt good. Thinking back. Like hands on a drum head only this time I was the drum head, round, resonant, ready, and perpetually astonished by the urgency of the laid-on hands. His palms open, my heart open, just enough fear and blood and raw life to make it real. That's what I'm talking about. (2014)