December 2011
8 posts
3 tags
Insomnia
She stormed into the dimly-lit study in her sleep shorts and baggy grey sweatshirt drenched in sweat, brandishing the intricately woven web of string, feather, and beads. She shook it violently above her head as if it had a neck that could be strangled. “You said this would work, Jay!” A single feather fell from the ornate piece as she glared at her husband’s tired face, careless of what she may...
3 tags
Catullus 85
I hate and I love. Maybe you need to know why?
I don’t know, but it happens. I feel it, ripping me apart. - Gaius Valerius Catullus (ca. 84 BC – ca. 54 BC) - trans. by James Esch
3 tags
Sonnet for Papa
I think of you and tendrils of despair entwine my heart. It chokes and gasps for breath and yet I know your cold chair remains bare – will stay that way. How personal is death? It never knew you like I did and yet it came. Attacked. Left stone that aged and cracked and weeds that sprout, transcend, can’t pay the debt to bring you back and so they grown and smack your grave. Ensnare my heart....
3 tags
whiteout
leaves limply curl like hands in death donut glazed with frosty tips
sleet patters tiny pin drops forcing limbs to kiss the ground white crushed lungs from avalanches never threshed
like amphibians our bloodstreams slow bitter winds cover our entwined tracks with snow unmarked graves surrender glints from glassy eyes
- Meredith Madigosky
3 tags
Tall Order
I work as a secretary at a university, and one of my faculty members came into the office to get his mail. We have the typical office mail slots with each professor’s name on the front in alphabetical order. I explained to him that we were getting new mailboxes. He protested because he is over 6’5” and his mailbox is at the bottom; the slots should not be done alphabetically, but by height.
I...
3 tags
Holiday Traditions
Many Christmas traditions have to do with food.
For instance, how about the day that someone was eating popcorn and decided, “Gee, let me get out my needle and thread and put this on a string instead of eating it; hence, I can stick it on the tree in my living room so the white of the popcorn really brings out the green needles on the tree.”
What about those gingerbread men? Why are they in...