That Was Never Two Weeks Just Now

Cognac, Coupons, and Cultural Collapse

New to Brittle Views? This space spans grief and mischief, punk nostalgia and quiet reckonings—essays, fiction, satire, and stories that don’t sit still. If you like writing that lingers as much as it lands, you’re in the right place.

I meant to do this recap a week ago. But I was off hunting down photo albums and haunted benches, dodging federal cosplay in public parks, and pausing—just long enough—to say goodbye.

Rather than skip it entirely, here’s a double dose of everything: political absurdity, fictional prequels, family grief, jam-related justice, and one very specific poem that started it all.

Here’s what echoed loudest:

Defiance & Dystopia — Where satire meets the state

MacArthur Park (Authoritarian Remix)

MacArthur Park (Authoritarian Remix)
A Trump-ICE photo op, staged like a warzone—with terrified kids, fake raids, and a disco-floor reckoning.

This Isn’t Foreign Policy. It’s a Warning.

Trump slaps Brazil with tariffs to protect Bolsonaro. Not diplomacy—just exported authoritarianism in red, white, and brute.

Who Are They Protecting?

Seven House Republicans vote to block transparency on Epstein’s files. Names named. Questions asked. Rage invited.

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Essays & Reflections — On fathers, feelings, and the soft power of care

(He Showed Me) Another Way

For the boys who felt too much, and the men who learned to mute it. A quiet ode to care, connection, and unlearning the mask.

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Holding On — A family novel unfolding in hush and heartache

Chapter Eight – Holding On [Narrated]

The hospice fills with gifts, stories, and blinking lights. One final Christmas. One final gathering.

The Brave One: Meet Emma

Portrait of a quietly fierce 11-year-old whose creativity becomes her courage.

Chapter Nine – Holding On [Narrated]

A bedside vigil. A photo album. A letting go that binds rather than breaks.

Not a Rupture, but a Rhythm

A reflection on Part I (Chapters 1–9): how grief moves not in plot points but in breaths, silences, and small mercies.

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Short Stories & Prequels

Presence, Not Permanence [Narrated]

Helen, pre–She Stayed for Tea. A soft-spoken connection, a sandwich wrapped in wax paper, and a love not fully hers.

Not Mine to Hold [Narrated]

June’s side of the story. Kindness, overreach, and what happens when care shows up uninvited.

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The Maggie B. Casefiles — Meet the woman who keeps quiet records of quiet reckonings. Jam. Gnomes. Ghosts. And counting.

Jamgate [Narrated]

The raspberry scandal that wasn’t. A spoonful of justice served cold.

A Matter of Plot [Narrated]

Gnomes. Garden politics. Plot mix-ups and decorum maintained. Maggie B., fig rolls, and Reginald’s pride restored.

The Angel’s Share

A bottle of cognac, a bench with no plaque, and Maggie B. tracking the ghosts we welcome more than name.

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Needle Drops — Memory, mischief, and the snapshots we almost missed

No Arm In It

One Mini Cooper, one boot, one unforgettable ride to the Blue Bell. Hicksy wedges himself in—limbs, pride, and all—becoming pub legend in the process.

Things You Don’t Talk About [Narrated]

A record pools win. A lost photo album. And the quiet story of how a family made space to breathe.

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Poetry — Memory, myth, and what lingers in the air

Still Held

A hospital room. A paper towel umbilical cord. A father's love that never let go.

Cognac [Narrated]

The smell of angels, riverside joy, and a picnic folded in dreamlight. The poem that sparked The Angel’s Share.

If something here moved you—pass it on. Comment. Share. Or just sit with it awhile.

New chapters of Holding On land on Wednesdays. Flashback Fridays arrive right on schedule. Maggie B. tends her garden (and her casefiles) whenever she feels like putting pen to notebook. The rest? They show up when they’re ready.

Thanks for reading. I really appreciate it.
—Robert