Author Archives: James Maskalyk

hey.  tomorrow night?  movie night?” someone asked. ”why not,” the surgeon answered, reclined on a mattress we’ve leaned up against a wall below the razor wire. “i’ve got nothing else on.” ”i can’t.  i’ve got tickets to a concert,” our … Continue reading →

i’ve been away.  it was a place much like dagahaley.  the difference was, when i tired of the heat, or the sand, i would wade into water near as clear as air, and swim between schools of skipping fish that … Continue reading →

so little water.  it hasn’t rained here for two years.  we get ours from boreholes dug deep in the dirt, metres down where hidden lakes hover between layers of clay.  we bring them to the top, hold them in tanks, … Continue reading →

yes.  even here. I have had a tough time sleeping lately, and by lately I mean the last few decades.  After a couple of years of success, things have worsened here, and i lie in front of a blowing fan … Continue reading →

a black figure approaches on the horizon, jittering up and down with the car. it is a small boy and as we pass, he points at the blue jug on this forehead.  we slow, and my kenyan colleague in the passenger seat rolls … Continue reading →