Carroll Dale Short

The Occupation of Love
                   

Because one day you do a thing
Everybody said was wrong and wouldn't work
But it's not and it does.

Because the hardest earth is softer when shared,
Continents can crumble into cities
And states into hearts.

Until the point when occupier and occupied alike
Scream their last refusal and echo together
Into what should have been all along.

                                                       photo by Dale Short

Carroll Dale Short, a native of Walker County, Alabama, is a journalist, fiction writer, columnist, public radio commentator, playwright, multimedia producer, and teacher. He was grand-prize winner of the first Redbook Magazine young author fiction competition. The winning entry, "The Mine at Saragossa," is one of the stories featured in his newest book, Turbo's Very Life, a 30-year retrospective of his best short fiction that has appeared in magazines. His first novel, The Shining Shining Path, was published in 1995 and a how-to book, A Writer's Tool Kit: 12 Proven Ways to Make Your Writing Stronger Today, in 2001. For more information please visit www.carrolldaleshort.com