CJ Woods III’s Story Archive

Sitting On The Porch

July 18, 2019 | by CJ Woods III

A woman came up to me as I sat in my red camp chair watching Blue Alchemy play at a concert sponsored by the Friends of Irving Circle. I had not been long settled into my chair when she approached me. Without preamble, she asked me, “Are you coming to … Read More

The Zine Scene

July 11, 2019 | by CJ Woods III

My favorite cidery posted a notification of an upcoming event. “Crafternoon + Zine Workshop” invited me to “Come out with (my) sketchbook” for an afternoon of “art and zines.” Cider, sketchbook and art, I thought. A good way to pass a Sunday afternoon. And to learn what a “zine” was. … Read More

Hummingbird Down

July 3, 2019 | by CJ Woods III

In the packed gray dirt beside the back steps of my new homeplace, I noticed an ovoid shape. Mottled gray green with sharp points at one end and two white spots at the other, the shape, when I knelt down for a closer look, proved to be a tiny bird. … Read More

Music, Poetry, Sadness and Joy

June 27, 2019 | by CJ Woods III

The National Public Radio sends me emails, and in the latest one, an announcement of the new U.S. Poet Laureate. Joy Harjo, a Native American member of the Muscogee Creek Nation, will succeed Tracy K. Smith. I am not familiar with Harjo’s poetry, but as I read the story from … Read More

Sharing Spaces

June 20, 2019 | by CJ Woods III

In March of 1993 I left Indianapolis, Indiana for a job in St. Louis, Missouri. My marriage, like Icarus, had flown too close to the fire and had crashed and burned. My bride and two young children stayed in Indy and, excepting a brief sojourn as tenant in my second … Read More