I harbored the spirit of unforgiveness
she wasn’t the unruly houseguest
everyone supposes
she didn’t destroy furniture
or have people over for orgies
mostly she sat silently
I am the full moon
rich with daughters.
Time spent
reading bedtime stories
and drying tears over
spilled milk and bruised knees.
I am trying to quit thinking of simple human decency as a form of heroism, both in my poems and in the world. …
The day I gained access to my other lives, I was relaxing by my brother’s pool after a horrible week at work. Brian let me…
The room was too quiet, so I left. I took my nervous feet to poundthe dark curl of island parting the river,all drizzling dark and…
I was too young to get married. I couldn’t even drink legally at the reception. My father spiked the punch bowl with wine, and my…
Combine water and sugar in a bottle, and place a string inside.Crystals will begin to consume the string,a physical reaction to something sweet.A catalyst in…
She slid into the water, no splashing, no shriek at the cold, her arms braced behind her, so she couldn’t stop herself, had to release…
This bleak suburb of Chicagothis Best Western hotel this December, freezing rainthese grey scraps of snow these apartments across the waythose small prisons of the…
Yellow beam from my flash and I tell myself something’s not right – as it runs ahead of me across the foyer floor to the kitchen linoleum, plush carpet…
In the mouth& the jawsback-handed slamby the coroner-manbecause of the rigorbecause he was sickof the shelling assemblyall gone to this:My buddy beneath the sheet,Father Priestseminary…
the worst part
is not seeing.
how blood pools post-op
behind the retina…
My car has a broken heart — I mean, a broken engine. If she were human, I would say that she is grieving. If she were a …
I. Uncle Skeleton bleached bronze by the desert
rattles up my driveway looking for solace,
someone who might understand…
the cemetery is a grand garden
to walk in she says
all the flowers arranged then changed
stories told by names…
My begging him to seek help—a psychiatrist, medication—is the proof of my cahootswith the omnipotent cabalhacking him, following him,seizing every shot to uncloakan interminable presencein…
So it’s after Hood to Coast (and if you want me to I can tell you about that too), but it’s after Hood to Coast…
The hush of darkness broken. Soft edging breathes gently through the horizon, heaving. Reaching slowly to embrace the Earth with its tendrils. Young greens wake…
How do you know it’s done? I admit the children were wreckedbut the sad man gave me reasons to remain— the sex was sex, his…
He’s been in a woman’s kitchen;he knows the art of locatinga drinking glass, the good corkscrew. He can rinse the bubblesfrom a long-necked twist-top,leave it…
The nasal, echoing sound of my breathBouncing through the acoustics of my headSteady, rhythmically blended with the beats of my heartElevating, escalating, matching my stride…
Last night I spread mouthwash over my face
instead of toner.
Last week I tried to open the car
with my cell phone.
I lost the word wash…
Sitting at the bar with your aunt on a Friday night reminds you how desperate you are for friends your own age. So you drink…