Four cartwheels later, my hiccups were gone. Of course, I laughed so much as I turned upside down and right side up that my diaphragm couldn’t help but settle down again. It was behavior that begged for injury, and the next day, we all hurt. At the time, though, it was all struggle against gravity, and moonlight, and bellies exposed as shirts rode up.
Archive for the ‘Kind of true’ Category
The Normal Lives
October 4, 2007The Normal Lives arrive in pairs, pushing their doctrine. This is the rule: do not invite them in. They speak politely at first, then begin shouting, one, then the other, no matter how neatly pressed their white shirts and dark ties. They cannot help it—if you don’t like their canons, they would have to rethink them, and that takes more time than they have.
Don’t take it personally. Just tell them to move on to the next house, the one with no fire out back, no stories being told, no drawings mapping the way to a life like stars.
(For Betsy, at 29)
Abundance
October 2, 2007I asked Blessed Mary, ever-Virgin, and all the angels and saints, to pray for me to the Lord Our God. As I left Mass, I shook the priest’s hand. It was dry and cool as marble, and he looked right through me.
Later, the money I needed arrived in my mailbox. I pinched the check between my index finger and my thumb. I looked around to see if anyone else was watching.
100 Proof 