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Family and Relationships
The Lonesomest Sound in the World
When the kids came to school, we tortured them because they smelled and wore the same clothes every day, until they just shut down, not even looking at us after a while, never raising their hands, never saying a word.
November 2025
Graffiti
A tag on a dumpster, poetry in an outhouse, Viking runes in an underground tomb
October 2025
About That Time I Pushed a Car Uphill
I want to pause here and point out the obvious: According to the laws of physics, as soon as Darius put the car in neutral, it would begin to roll back. With me behind it.
October 2025
The Cat Who Woke Me Up
The hierarchy that places humans above cats has broken down. I know, in a way I once didn’t, that cats and dogs and birds and bees and every living creature are conscious in a way that’s too hard for most of us to acknowledge. We’re all a bunch of narcissists who imagine that no life-form is quite as appealing as this one we call human. We’re unable to share the stage unless the animals are the supporting players.
October 2025
Rude and Raw
If you were around then, you probably blinked and missed Rude and Raw. Not many people noticed when they came on the scene, and even fewer paid attention when they left. They weren’t easily categorized. They weren’t hard rock or power pop, and veered off several exits short of punk. They probably had people telling them they should be more of this or less of that, but if so, they didn’t heed any of it. They seemed caught in this never-ending state of becoming, trying to figure things out as they went, as strange and undefinable to themselves as they were to others.
October 2025
Thread
So, all right then: What was it like to be transformed into what I am now? I’ll tell you. It was like a sundering. A splitting. Icy lightning cleaved along my limbs. At the same time, my skin was turning fruit-rind tough, dully reflective like obsidian, and punctured by small hairs the size and strength of claws.
October 2025
Getting Dressed
Sleeping in uniform, layering against the cold, wearing your spouse’s jeans
September 2025
Mad to Live
When my children began to tattoo their skin, / even modest images scared me. / I winced at each new embellishment, / wishing them innocence, not scars.
September 2025Moon Boots
Our baby could not yet hold his head up. I lay on my parents’ living room floor next to my son, wondering how I was going to afford and overcome everything by myself, thinking I was too clumsy to take care of something as delicate as a child. And, in having these thoughts, I came undone.
September 2025
On Wheels
Last summer I took a free one-day course in nearby Philadelphia for adults who wanted to learn to ride a bike. The incident that finally pushed me over the edge was when my eight-year-old niece was riding in circles around me, baffled by my inability to do the same. She asked why I was afraid to do something so easy. And I was afraid: Of falling. Of looking foolish. Of struggling to even get on the seat at a public park and then throwing a tantrum while some teens recorded me on their phones. Mostly I was afraid of finding out how limited I really am.
September 2025
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