Parachutes
Cash saved for the unexpected broken tooth, car repair, the day the central heating quits. Water jugs and food to last the outage, snowstorm, hurricane. Go-bag with important papers. Plan to retire, insurance for wind, flood, fire, earthquake. That’s been my...
Just started working again—
Just started working again— A coworker cut his arm. He laughed, “Horizontal for attention, Vertical for results?” Apparently this was a saying. “Exactly,” I said. It was August, we were hanging Insulation in a crawlspace, But how lucky Was I to be wearing Two...
A woman’s place
Into the mouths of babes, the bottomless craw of a needy child; they cluster at my hip, wanting more. Here, I pay and pay for sins I did not commit. Not in this house, this generation. But fat must be rendered. The...
Don’t you dare tell me he’s a good man
I get to hear my family talk about how the man who tried to rape me as a child and taunted me about it in college is a good man.
Listening, a litany
The whisper of safety is just out of reach, no matter how hard I strain to listen.
Recommended Reading
The acknowledgement
I’m trying to be gentle with myself, but what if I never believe my body when it tells me what happened?
Have the time of your life!*
*Common side effects may include but are not limited to: harassment, stalking, getting drugged, passing out in...
To the fathers who do not abuse their daughters
On my street I am witness to the young men who carry the pink-flowered backpacks of little girls, who...
