Robert McDiarmid

He’d known from an early age what he’d become. He had begun volunteering to help as soon as he knew what service to others meant.…

He sat across from me telling me about his day. We’d met on men2date.com. He was, I’m guessing, somewhere in his late sixties, had a…

He had promised her he’d come. So he would just grin and bear it. His suit for the ceremony was in the plastic hanger bag…

“This project is really hard,” one student offered. “He said hard. Heh, heh, heh,” another responded, in his best Beavis impersonation. “Thank you, one per…

I saw him walking into the grocery store. I hoped that looking down into the produce would keep him from seeing me.  Mike is a…

“How nice and old fashioned! You have an admirer!” said the bartender, placing an icy beer mug in front of him. “The muscle boy in…

He flipped the radio off. The story was so sad, that even the NPR reporter was careful with his words, and admitted it was a…

He sat with his head leaning against the glass. White earphone cords lead across his flannel shirt to his pocket. Eyes shut, he nodded slowly…

“I married Sasquatch. I’m cleaning up more of his hair than the cat,” she laughed into the phone, “Yeah. Everywhere. Ev-er-y-where…………………..Yes. I’m sure if hair…

She stood at the wall staring over the raging surf. The first frost glistened on the stones around her. She pulled the furs around her…

“I saw the entire sky ‘powdered with stars….’”   This is Oliver Sack’s writing desk, as photographed by his partner Bill Hayes. They met seven…

“Blasphemer!” “What?” “Who is Donna Summer? Really? That’s like asking ‘Who is Barbra Streisand?’ ” “Um,” he said, hesitating. “Good lord honey, do they teach…

“I had the weirdest dream last night.” “Suffocating Justin Beiber with a sequined pillow, again?” “No, but that one is delicious though. I was working…

Snow White was enjoying the quiet. The guys were off at the mine. The bluebirds were off at a convention and not asking for duets…

The leather bar was crowded. There must be some kind of event in town. He just wanted to be out and have a cold beer,…

I was out for my Sunday run and I saw him kneeling in one of the flower beds. The first thing I noticed was his…

It was the perfect annoying Monday morning sound. You could hear the screeching of the fan belt from blocks away. Rev, screech, brake, throw, Fwap!,…

He looked purposefully crumpled. The worn flannel shirt was a size or two too big hanging on him like a monk’s robe. He set down…

I was backpacking and staying in a small lakeside campground on Orcas Island. Moss hung from the trees, and my campfire seemed like it was…

“It’s not you, it’s me.” “I know what you want, and I want different things.” “We’re at different places in our lives.” (and the worst)…

It occurred to me over coffee that what the world needed was a Fagat guide. Enough with Grindr and Scruff – what we need is…

“And just what is this,” he protested, brandishing a Subway sandwich wrapper in his hand. “Proof you’ve been raiding the recycle bin?” “Exactly, explain!” “Um…

The cadence from his earbuds tapped and buzzed from several tables over. Mumbling along with the words silently, he tapped his foot on the pavement.…

“Eeyoreism?” “Eeyoreism. Going to the gym so I wouldn’t be fat. Going to work so I wouldn’t be evicted. Always painting obstacles in my life…

The clothes would probably have stood up on their own if he hadn’t stripped right into the washer. The campground dust had gotten everywhere. He…

Hiking up my boxers, I shuffled into the kitchen. As Dolly Parton says, to “pour myself a cup of ambition.” Adding a bit of sugar…

“I’ll see you soon,” he said, lying, “Yep. uh-huh. Gotta run. Yep. Running late. yes. must go. bye.” He hung up the phone and let…

“Our city has a poop problem?” “The article says they’ve picked up human poop 300 times in the last year. Pretty much every day but…

The ear becomes so accustomed to the hum of the highway, the cadence of the urban commute, and the sharp shrieks walking by the playground…

“That is so gross.” “What?” “That cereal” “You say ‘that cereal’ like it’s a committed a crime or something.” “it has. Against good taste. I…

It is a cathedral of the senses that only reveals itself to me when I am out on my bike when the sun first pours…

She landed on his hand and he watched in fascination as the mosquito did an inventory of her choices. He’d read somewhere that mosquitoes can…

The occasional lurching stop of the bus bumped his head against the glass. With the arm of his sweatshirt he’d reach up and wipe his…

“He understood you, you know,” she said to me, breaking the silence. The December wind whipped around the tombstones in the small country cemetery. The…

My brain untwists itself and lays me flat. I thought I wanted sex, I think to myself, but god how much I just want someone…

The crunchy grass of fall met our feet as we arrived for a morning walk in the park. The bright sunrise sending the morning mist…

This morning was the first rainy dogwalk of fall. It is always hysterical. Our condo has an indoor courtyard – so as soon as we…

The first crunchy frost of fall announced itself as he cut across the green grass in the predawn darkness. He stopped, staring up into the…

I circled the date on my calendar. I chuckled to myself, I was still keeping a 6th grade teacher red pen on my desk. September…

“How come you never hear people bitch about Tuesday? No ‘for the love of Christ it is only Tuesday’ memes …… I think Tuesday is…

“The community is there,” he responded, “I guess I’d question what kind of community we are though? We’re a gang of men that talk about…

I love being awake for sunrise. The trees silhouetted against a creamsickle orange sky. The best part is the stillness and the quiet. As the…