A snow day, a basement, and a turntable spinning time itself. Before everything was instant, there was a rhythm to waiting. Records played start to finish, stories unfolded one track at a time, and imagination filled the space in between. This piece explores the quiet ritual of vinyl, where a boy begins to choose his own signal, shaping not just what he hears, but who he becomes.
Tag Archives: coming of age
Calling All Stations
A boy in a cellar, a man at the dial, and a signal that never quite resolves. This poem explores radio as a bridge across distance and time, shrinking the world while chasing away the loneliness of childhood and the deeper isolation of adulthood.
The Lords of Stanford Drive
In a quiet valley upstate, three boys ruled a kingdom no one else could see. Big Wheels and vacant lots. Crayfish and cardboard swords. Drive-ins and rotary phones. The Lords of Stanford Drive is a suburban epic about friendship, freedom, and the strange elasticity of childhood time — how it once stood still, then slowly crept, then suddenly caught up. A myth of a street. A memory of an era. A crown worn lightly, and laid down without ceremony.
Mannino Acid 