Tag: Abortion

  • Short Story Review: “The City is a Graveyard” by Addie Citchens

    (The short story Short Story Review: “The City is a Graveyard” by Addie Citchens appeared in the March 16th, 2026 issue of The New Yorker.)

    Photograph by Nydia Blas

    There are many things that I enjoyed about Addie Citchens’ “The City is a Graveyard,” but the one I found most enigmatic was how every time the protagonist first mentions a man in her life, she lists his Zodiac sign. What made this so interesting to me was that this was a story about her existential existence, yet these men were beings of Zodiac influence. A fascinating dualism, creating a song that I could see Apollo and Dionysus dancing to.

    Another aspect of this story was Citchens’ use of second person narrative. The use of this style can create an immediate feeling of immersion for the reader, forcing us to embody the protagonist. Yet, in this story, I don’t feel that was the intended use. The “you” is in fact the protagonist speaking to herself, attempting to objectively examine these specific events from her life. I came to this conclusion because near the end of the story, when a man approaches her while she is sitting on a bench, he says to her, “I been watching you sit on this bench talking to yourself.” The story is the protagonist dialogue with herself. I could be wrong, I doubt it, because isn’t that how we talk to ourselves in our minds? “What were you thinking” “Why would you do that?” Well… I do anyway… For me, it creates an honesty and authenticity in the protagonist.

    Because this is a story about the protagonist being honest to herself about the decision and choices she made in her life especially when it came to intimacy, pregnancy and abortion. Some were planned, some weren’t, but each were different and affected the protagonist in different ways. Citchens’ presents us with a protagonist who is complicated, not easy to define, maybe a little messy in her life (who isn’t) but this is a character who is fully well rounded in three dimensions. In essence, she’s might be conflicted on how to feel about herself, and the decisions that she’s made, but in the end, the decisions are hers.

    I am leaving lots, and I mean lots, of details out of this story, as I don’t want to ruin how the story is built, and the way the climax unfolds on a bench. I do want to add that there is another character in this piece, which is the city of New Orleans. Not only the climate of the place (hot, humid, sticky) or the tourists everywhere, but the music, and the history of that place. Citchens’ uses, for lack of a better phrase, subtle notes in the narrative on how this location is essential in the telling of this story. New Orleans is a place where the ghosts of the past are never out of sight, but it is also a place of possibility, where a future can always been seen.

  • A Political Blog Today

    Did you hear that Trump got indicted?

    Of course, you did. You couldn’t swing a dead cat without hitting that story yesterday.

    Yes, it was a big story; first time in American history. But it really shouldn’t be a big deal. If no one is above the law, then this is what should happen. Like I said on Friday, Article I Section 3 shows that the Founders envisioned this situation, and they were fine with it.

    Besides, the American justice system is slanted to the rich and powerful. Trump will hire the better lawyers who will be able to create doubt in the jury’s minds, and he’ll be acquitted. That’s why I don’t buy in the theory that you can’t charge a former president with a crime because it will create a tit-for-tat between the parties. There still has to be a trial, there will still be a jury, and former presidents will still be able to hire good lawyers, which leads to them being acquitted. It’s a paper tiger way of stopping a political enemy. Still the best way to stop a politician in this country is an election.

    The bigger political story yesterday was in Wisconsin. Janet Protasiewicz won a ten-year seat on the Wisconsin Supreme Court, which now tilts that body to a liberal majority. What that means is that the state’s abortion ban will be over turned, and the Wisconsin Republican supermajority in the Legislature, which was put there by a gerrymandered map, which be thrown out and redrawn. Sure, this means that Wisconsin will move from a toss-up state to blue. It could mean new Democratic majorities in the Legislature will undo the reforms Scott Walker put in place. What I think it means is that if Democrats run on abortion rights and fair elections, they win. Protasiewicz openly ran on those two issues and she won by 10 points! That’s not a fluke win, it’s beating the pants off your opponent. I hope the other liberals out there are paying attention.