The Shame of Minneapolis
The tragic hero is one of the most compelling characters in American literature. From Captain Ahab to Gatsby to Charles Foster Kane, the most compelling American stories are those of ambitious men and their undoing by their own flaws. American politics is full of such creatures, from Huey Long to Joseph McCarthy to Richard Nixon. And one name that has been intentionally forgotten, almost like a way of washing away his sins and absolving the rest of theirs: Albert Alonzo “Doc” Ames.
Robert O’Connor tells the tale of the rise and fall of Doc Ames.
Three Poems
It’s easier to find the video than to describe
the scene. I’ve got no gold to farm, but history
is always flagellation and indulgences,
weeping old women on church steps, burned
garlic, rats and beards. Synagogues by torchlight
and now I’ve got the nerve to be
at frayed edges over insignificant shit…
Beneath the chap-fallen steeple go the cars,
full buses, taxis and some chain link scars
the former plaza of the sculpture garden.
I note in passing a rusted penny farthing…
By Ryan M.