Author Archives: Anthony DePaul Sadler

Rubber Joe

I’ve struggled to keep meaningful relationships with other men. Most men I’ve been close to hurt me in ways most men hurt others. I’ve always been sensitive and most men take it upon themselves to toughen people like me up. They compared me to women or gays because, to them, being female or liking men makes you weak. They laughed at me when I cried and made petty what felt monumental to me.

In the Middle of a Wide, Wild River

This entry is a part of a series of vignettes covering the “Great Flood of 1916,” which caused damage across five states in the southeast. Biltmore Village.July 16, 1916 Tired, trembling, and terrified, seventeen-year-old Katherine Lipe clung to a tree at the Biltmore Lodge Gate just outside of Asheville, North Carolina. She was fifty-feet fromContinue reading “In the Middle of a Wide, Wild River”

The Queen of North Street

We all die a little bit every day. Some people, like my grandmother, commit suicide slowly. By the time I came around she was nearly gone. My whole life she struggled to breathe. I don’t remember what I called her, but her name was Doris. Maybe I called her grandma. I never called her granny.Continue reading “The Queen of North Street”

Daisy Dukes and Combat Boots

I once hit a kid in the face with a basketball because he called my mom a bitch. I was eight. It was instinct. Later, I cried. Nowadays I’d never intentionally hurt somebody, certainly not for words, no matter how insulting. At my core, I’m not violent. When anyone argues around me a knot formsContinue reading “Daisy Dukes and Combat Boots”