On Monday I wore a cowboy hat to work—just to see if I could.

Employees at Brick Albert seldom break the unspoken dress code of a Costco button-down paired with either khaki, black, or navy-blue slacks. Once you get pegged as dressing a certain way, any deviation only invites conversation, and I don’t like talking about myself.

Gretchen had been a fighter pilot. I mean, she wasn’t actually, but she barked at the planes—loud. She was originally assigned to patrol the base, but was too good, wouldn’t let anyone in or out. She didn’t trust photos, birth dates, bar codes, any of that.

Poem by Amalie Flynn: “Ours”

New Poetry by D.R. James: “Stunned”

Such literary drawbacks are notably absent in Jim Beane’s debut novel, The Deadening, which features the return from war-torn Europe of American soldier Harrell Hickman. Like so many young veterans during this time, the euphoria of victory parades came and went in an instant.