Monthly Archives: May 2010
Prized
I write on the tiniest sliver of a desk. In the space of wall between the sliding wooden doors of my bedroom and the built-in shelves of movies. For Field Guide, I wrote here for hours nearly every day for 2.5 months. Staring at this… Read more
Posted in Field Guide, Writing
Tagged bliss, boxer, brokenness, character, dialogue, dogs, Edit, field guide, grief, injury, joy, kid, Lambda, lesbian, memory, nada, relationships, story, surf, women, Writing
3 Comments
Correspond
When was the last time you wrote letters? I don’t mean the occasional thank you note, or postcard. I mean proper letters, back and forth, between you and another human. For me it was high school. Shoe boxes full. My dad cut off the phone… Read more
Posted in Writing
Tagged artist, feminist poetry, handwriting, heart, joy, letter, love, mailbox, poem, relationships, savor, seduction, story, Writing
5 Comments
Mothers
You have never dated someone with a child before, and even if you had, the child would not have been this child. Breathless from his bike ride uphill from Peaceful Valley, terrified that you might be upset, or gone. “I’m so sorry,” he assures you. … Read more
My Henry James Tour
We were alone in the hostel dorm room when the Egyptian boy put his hand down my pants. “No,” I said. And he slapped me. The fury I unleashed was fucking seismic. He stepped backwards with his hands raised, palms up. Appomattox. Oh, look, a… Read more
Posted in Featured, Writing
Tagged black ringlets, boundaries, conscious, drops, egyptian, grace, graveyard, heartbreak, injury, lemon, power, relationships, scotland, self, shame, survivalist, venice, women
5 Comments
Reset
She has been working up to this all afternoon. Says now, casually, “Is your default setting happy or unhappy?”
“Happy,” I say.
“Why do you think you chose to pursue relationships with unhappy people?” Her head is turned. Her neck a hypnotic line.
Did I?… Read more
Posted in Writing
Tagged bliss, boundaries, character, heart, heartbreak, injury, joy, lesbian, love, pierced, relationships, story, unhappy, women, wonderment
10 Comments
The secret rule and other inventions
The men stand next to the child, and ask him to explain the rules of his game.
“You have to race the cars down the driveway,” he tells them, pointing a path, “and into the street. And then you win a big, invisible trophy.”
My… Read more
Posted in Writing
Tagged adventure, bliss, blueberry spider, character, father, invisible trophy, joy, kid, love, self
5 Comments
To guard against cynicism
1. Jump rope.
2. No moving in together for at least 6 months.
3. Run uphill. Through the rain and the yellow blossoms. On the trail. Run.
4. Write letters. Correspond. Memorize her handwriting.
5. Savor your food.
6. Play music. New music and old. … Read more
Posted in Writing
Tagged adventure, artist, bike, bliss, boundaries, friends, grace, heart, joy, jump rope, lesbian, love, mindfulness, relationships, story, water pistol
2 Comments
Artful
“How long since your last girlfriend?” she asks.
“A month.”
“Jesus.”
“That’s about 3 weeks longer than I usually wait.”
“Yes.” Her voice clipped with laughter. “I admire your restraint. How has that worked out for you in the past?
The dogs pace into the… Read more
Posted in Writing
Tagged artist, bliss, boundaries, heart, joy, lesbian, love, poem, relationships, story, women
7 Comments
Family tonics
I have given sleep up. More than four hours just seems greedy now. I don’t dream any longer. The night is a tree I cling to. Slothful. I have to tap the Hanging Man. Set him in motion. I have to leap. Forgo suspension.
Last… Read more
Posted in Writing
Tagged brokenness, grace, hanging man, injury, insomniac, kid, love, memory, relationships, self, shame, slothful, wig, women
2 Comments
Carded
She told me to abandon the voodoo shops, and get a Tarot reading instead. I thought of women in bizarre headdresses with gnarled little hands, crouched in creepy, lace-draped rooms, and declined. Until I saw the slender pirate at a table by the park. Shorn… Read more
Posted in Writing
Tagged adventure, bliss, character, grace, love, magic, mindfulness, New Orleans, relationships, self, sing, story, tarot, women
2 Comments