Sanctuaries are where we escape the burns and bitter cold of life’s turbulent weather. And the best sanctuaries, beyond our family, are friends.

A besuited accordionist in Italy, a vestige of something refined and elegant, captured in my rangefinder camera. And with the image, the notion that this once mattered.

How do we endure and hold our ground in the waning days of our lives? A Christmas Eve phone call from an old friend in assisted living, and a statue in the storm, guide this essay home.

What’s the point of laboring over words or waiting for the right painting light when the world seems satisfied with faster, artificial substitutions? This essay answers that question.

A copywriter and aspiring novelist gets lost on his way home from a writing conference and meets a mysterious man and his owl, Penelope. And thus begins a night he will never forget.

A visit to Arcadian Books and Art Prints in New Orleans, to commune with books old and new, like orphans waiting to be adopted.

A street photography essay capturing a professional bull rider, holiday revelers, and the notion that eyes become lanterns leading us through the darkness toward whatever light remains in this world.

Remembering a police shooting, a mentally ill man, and lamenting tragedies in this broken world.

Elegy for an old tree cut down in a park, and how we are not so different than trees.

A poignant short story about grief, loss, being without home, and the kindness and grace of others.

A street photography essay about people, noticing the world around us, and the angels in our midst.

A moving story about a poet, an attorney, and how sometimes lives intersect for the betterment of another.

A old man living with ghosts and regrets finds hope in a little diner and in an unexpected gift.

A world-weary cop deals with death, tragedy, loss, and the despair in other people’s lives. And the healing light of literature.

A poignant essay, a love letter to my Irish grandmother, and the trip to Ireland that called up her loving spirit.

A father teaches his son about acceptance, kindness, and what it means to show compassion and generosity to those of different abilities.

A poignant essay about visiting an old man in an assisted living unit, the challenges of aging and loss, and the small things we keep. The things that soothe us.

A short story about broken people, second chances, the power of kindness, and the blessings of redemption.

An elegiac essay about retirement, aging, and leaning into the stillness.

The new literary home of Weiss Journal. Independent stories, essays, photography, and audio narrations by John Patrick Weiss. Elegant and honest writing, free of AI.