Nothing is left of Grandma
Except a pair of glasses
Legs crossed, left lens foggy
A closet of mothball dresses
Like those on a thrift store rack
A coin purse plump with
Wheat pennies, buffalo nickels
A Polaroid of a grandson tugging
Grandma’s wrinkled neck
A turkey off
To the slaughterhouse

writing a five page paper about the purpose of authentication in "the custom house" is not as fun as it sounds. however, i am done, so all is well ( Read more... )

intimacy--n. a bent hairpin in a pillow case, hair strands curled in question marks, one pink, balled sock beneath the bed shed eagerly before lovemaking ( Read more... )

water that had collected from recent storms sloshed around the bed of the pickup truck, curdling over the ribs; the potpourri foliage; the cities beneath the plane were a little boy's train set: the grassy hills as mossy pebbles; "daddy, my hand's as big as new york"; salmon clouds stretched across the sky like a touch of peach pastel smeared upon ( Read more... )

the pine needle drifted to the forest floor. it was received with indifference.

i'm in maine, watching the news with my dad in a hotel room. it's in the 50s here. nuts.

i found god's fingernail in a crescent moon. reminded me of my great uncle i'd known as a boy. used to take me on fishing trips all of the time. wore a green hunting hat with gray hair swept beneath. i caught myself a catfish, who looked just like him. whiskers jutting out in every direction. this was a man i had loved once a long time ago. until ( Read more... )

schnucks paid me an extra $139.91 today. this amount is a duplicate of my first week's pay. when i tried to be honest and correct them, they argued and said that i hadn't picked my first week's check up, which was a lie. i showed them the stub. so they took it up with their bosses. today one of the managers told me that even if they had made a ( Read more... )

strawberry yogurt on a peanut granola bar is perfection. work is bad. bagging entails letting a numbness hug your brain that can lessen only when the day is over. it is bad. but at least i am getting paid (shit). i have been reading "the sportswriter" by richard ford for the past few days. it is good. it is hard to decide whether ford is a better ( Read more... )

i think i've finally finished the insect torturer story, although i can't be positive. regardless, i have two sturdy ideas for stories and several that are flimsy. i'll try to get a go on those while editing and revising stories that i've written earlier this summer. one of the sturdy stories has a very beautiful ending that i've written in my ( Read more... )