I'd seen the note on Jessica Smith's blog in memory of Parker Zane Allen, but hadn't read his work until looking at Small Town 8 today. Especially liked this sentence about letting a girlfriend extract a splinter: "When she tells you to get out of the light, do, and when it puts you in an uncomfortable position, don't complain." I like the uneasy wavering between surliness and gratitude in his pieces in the journal -- especially like the revulsion/attraction in "Night Light." That's all I wanted to say.

Also: Small Town editor Logan Ryan Smith remembers Allen.