By Christopher Murphy
Here’s the thing, Jackson said. There are things that we don’t talk about. You’ve probably read some of it. There are things we don’t talk about because it’s not right to talk about them if you weren’t there. There are things you shouldn’t talk about because you don’t know and never will. There are things it’s a bad idea to talk about. There are things that we never talk about. You’ve probably heard people talking about them.
And, she said, there are things we talk about, but you can’t talk about them. There are things we talk about all the time, so it seems like you could talk about them. You shouldn’t. Maybe a few things you could say when I’m around, but generally you should just not talk about them. You can talk about them with me, some things, but even then.
Even though I know it’s what you do, and I know you’re really good at it and really smart, there are things you can’t talk about. What I mean, she said, is that you can’t write about them. Even though I can tell that a part of you wants to, I’m telling you that you shouldn’t write about them.
He knew all that. He’d gone to school to learn when he shouldn’t try to learn more, when he should say less. But he was still glad to hear it because she was right. He wanted to talk about it.
Christopher Murphy teaches creative writing at Northeastern State University. He has a collection of flash fiction, Burning All the Time, from Mongrel Empire Press and a fiction chapbook, Rites, from USPOCO Books.
MoonPark Review 