i. I see myself in the stumps and pits where trees used to grow in the absence of the white pine where I measured myself against the height of green branches that slowly overtook the front yard and cast shadows that frightened me as a girl I see myself in the cracks between the flagstones … Continue reading Elegy for a small town childhood
I discovered something today: endorphins. My kids and I started taking Taekwondo together, three times a week. It's hard, and I'm clumsy and slow and keep getting my low blocks and high blocks mixed up. Warm-ups consist of—among other things—twenty-five pushups (on our knuckles!) and between 75 and 125 crunches. Now you have to understand, … Continue reading Old dog, new tricks
Tell me about that football game, that band you’ve adored since high school, that autobiography—really?—that kept you up all night. Tell me how you negotiated a deal at the office. How you got a deal at the thrift store. Tell me how you stood your ground and got what you wanted. I want that for … Continue reading Mudita
The Perseids dart overhead, a school of fish in a boundless dark sea. I count them for you, trace a path along a river of stars. Trace, also, the pale curve of your shoulder. "What did you wish for?" I ask. Your eyes are bright. "An eternity of this."
My mom wasn’t on board with the whole gay thing at first. I never even had to tell her; she overheard me talking to my girlfriend on the phone, and recognized the tone of my voice. “I’m going to consider it a phase,” she told me to my face. “You’ll get over it. Oh, and … Continue reading Shadows wane
