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Adolescence
First Kiss
At church camp, in a air raid shelter in wartime England, on an old flatbed trailer
November 1988The Flag-Draped Coffin
Oron flanks left with the small platoon of formally dressed sailors, all in ceremonial blue wool, all armed with parade M-1 rifles. The overcast sky is ashen on this mid-November day, and the wind pulsates bleakly over this little land of the dead.
September 1988Chased
She was chaste and chased. Miriam saw the men looking at her as she dove into the swimming pool, her body a golden promise.
August 1988Back To The Real World
Reflections On A Course In Miracles
In retrospect I have realized that I could not have been more ready for the first section of the Course workbook, described in its introduction as “dealing with the undoing of the way you see now. . . .” Because my life had not been working, the way I saw things was quite ready to be undone.
August 1988Leaving Home
Opening my legs for her wasn’t easy. / She was hunched and burnt-looking. / Her whole face puckered toward her mouth. / She spoke with words like “dirty shame” / while she gave her absolution — / a small, white cloth inserted / into my womb.
June 1988Celebrations
An old man and a butterfly, a beloved friend’s housewarming, a hysterectomy
January 1988Taking Risks
Catching the eye of Harper and Row, being the first one into Chico Creek every spring, being tethered to the clothesline
June 1987You’re Weird, Irene
The woman sits there a while and then we can see her face changing. It looks like she’s got all the troubles in the whole world. Her face crinkles up and she starts to cry. She wipes away her tears but they keep coming down and flowing into her toothless mouth.
December 1986
