Wednesday, 9:30 a.m.
Anthony Bukoski has published four collections of short stories, most recently Time Between Trains. He is the recipient of the 2002 Sarmatian Review Literary Award for "artistic excellence in presenting the life of American Polish communities in the Midwest" and "for his superb ability to transform the lives of ordinary Polish Americans into art of the highest quality." He lives in Superior, Wisconsin. He read us his story called "The World at War."
"This seaman's card tells a story I must learn to read...."
"He's seen men burning in gasoline, men drifting helplessly towards gasoline...."
"Where's the time to think when he labors ten hours a day at the flour mill...."
"He quits both study courses after a few months, though. No time...."
"Stuck in the flour mill, yearning for the sea...."
"My father has an opportunity to work in the engine room of a ship that will carry me to Okinawa, and then to Vietnam...."
"... which Ma calls a 'great coat' in Polish...."
"... knowing that as I pursue him into the future, he pursues me into the past...."
"Why don't you study time for a living, he asks...."
"Time let you down like it did me, huh, he said."
"Has the time wound down on an old family in a declining neighorhood...."
"He shakes his head 'No' to the beer. He needs to conserve his air by not talking...."
"Now I can't help myself. I'm crying in front of my parents...."
"When my father sees me on the screen, it's like he sees himself...."
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