On "The Saint of the Impossible" by David Levinson (7558 words) ****

Here's another breakup story. Even though there seem to be many such stories, good ones are hard to come by. Most good stories about relationships seem to focus more on a life long past the end or on a life as it's moving toward that end. Focusing on those closing moments themselves, however, is something a bit different. Perhaps writing a good breakup story is hard because the emotions that make such a story great fodder are also what tend to make such stories sentimental tin cans.

Levinson, however, is in control of his material. The story of an agent and his singer, a boy and his older lover, a has been and another has been, the piece speaks of what was and is no longer to be. Sometimes we tattoo the names of our loved ones on our bodies, but what are we to do with the tattoos once those names are just words signifying nothing? Read the story here at Slush Pile.