We’re not good friends. If I don’t buy him some books, I’m going to feel crappy, but if I do, I’ll still feel crappy, so I’m in a bad position. Anyone should be allowed to ask for anything, and I should be strong enough to feel okay with a “yes” or “no,” but I’m not.… Read More »
Laura-Marie Taylor ghost The dead man who looks for his wife could make you cry, his teenaged daughter beside him on the buggy-seat. The husband-dad goes up to the farmhouse after getting directions in town for maybe the hundredth time. “Is Mrs. Ruggs here?” he asks the woman who opens the door. “No, no one… Read More »
Is suicide the ultimate in selfishness, or is a person left without a choice? When they get so sick— hitting bottom, and no one can help. I tend to think about the family, who has to clean all that shit up. No matter how well-intentioned you are, the kids aren’t going to understand why you… Read More »
I compared six clowns who all looked the same. I checked their ears and eye-wrinkles then counted the polka- dots on their hats. It took my wife to tell me, “You’re a lunatic. Four is missing a bowtie.” My career as a Mensa strategist is over!
Did you publish poems in Pocket Trick? Please give me permission to put them here.
I didn’t go into the question booth even once. Yet couldn’t avoid conversations, like with the lady who wants to recruit me to her inspirational cult and liked strawberry with chicken, as well as some random TL from CTB who spoke to me as if I was his best friend. I went along. He was… Read More »
I dreamed my dad was a Mexican composer who only came to see us in California every few years. When he was visiting, I was supposed to be really happy, but I hated him. I spoke to him only in English, and he spoke to me only in Spanish, but I wasn’t really listening anyway.… Read More »
I remember sometimes my parents would eat ice cream after putting me and my brother to bed. The clinking of the spoon on the cup. I remember when I was setting type for the first time. Some of the fonts were sparse—stolen letters? I thought a “p” could be an upside-down “d.” But I was… Read More »
Our mold problem is officially out of hand. We tossed the matress tonight after finding the carpet underneath it was moldy. We bought some borax at the grocery store acorss the street, and Erik’s making a kitten bed in the living room. He told me not to worry–I said, “I’m not worried. I’m freaked out.”… Read More »
We don’t do Valentine’s Day. It’s like Halloween around here. Kitty’s scared of the vacuum and thinks it’s okay to sit on my desk when he’s scared. Either that, or he forgot it’s forbidden. I’m depressed about going to work tomorrow: a week scoring CBEST with poor catered lunch and a lot of old people… Read More »