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.
If only
October 6, 2007If only the sun’s rays could cut, she thought, this particular Fall light could pierce me, this light that lies orange against the trees. My eyes would drift shut, and the last thing I would see is the cornflower sky.
If only she would look at me, he thought.
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.
Crabwalk
September 30, 2007At 4 a.m., your shell rested. I felt it arrive next to me, brittle and sandy. In the morning, shortly after I made eggs for us, you dashed toward the front door without stopping to eat. I grabbed your hand, but you kept going, skittering sideways toward the tide of the day. When I made the bed, I took some of the sand from the sheets, put it in my pocket, and rubbed the grains between my fingers until the skin split open. My fingers stung, but all things considered, that was the least of my problems.
100 Proof 