A woman finally forms a relationship with her half-sister, but becomes concerned for her well-being; the half-sister and her husband each tell the woman a different story.

After struggling to appeal to their state governor, a dysfunctional family anxiously awaits the public execution of a relative. As they wait at home new of the execution, tensions and strife erupt in a dispute over the relative's innocence.

A college professor pays a famous poet to guest lecture at his university. Although this encounter improves his professional standing, his personal life suffers as a result of the poet's behavior.