Most discussed stories

The Secret

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Of course then I did it all over again. Got married, that is. Fortunately, this one worked out.

Frida wonders if there’s a better way

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She’s changed leaves to emeralds. Worn a shawl of inked birds’ wings.

Dilemma

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Myrna came home from her new, midnight shift, waitressing job at the Waffle House saying she was sorry but she couldn't take any more gray-haired Jesus-types with their dollar bills held high, releasing a few so they would flutter, as if borne by wings, onto the tables as…

Flying to the Moon

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...galaxies burst into an infinite slide-show of the absolute... god?

Phantom Sister

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We wonder if this is how we tangled in our mother's womb: hands to feet to heart.

If a Gun is Introduced, it Must Eventually Fire

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His note said: “I’m sick of low attendance.”

Songlines

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When the planes crashed,when the levees broke,when the ground shook,there was a song I dreamed of,humming subsonic,a chorus of voices and prayersuncorked like the little brown jugthat holds all the love and memories.In the outback, Aborigines believewe create the world by…

Shout to the dead

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All the years since, until this morning, I'd thought the actor was James Gregory.

Train Whistles In Wintertime

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Train whistles in wintertime made him feel lonely.

Patriot Ford

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As American as hotdogs and apple pie...

How It Went Bad With Horsepen

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You should never have believed your daddy when he said a man with half a dog was better off than a man with no dog at all.

Wanna Bet?

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I was always more comfortable with the ponies than you were / more comfortable with betting windows and two-dollar bills than you were

A smile is worth 1000 teeth

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I was desperate for a social life but I couldn’t go out because I was too embarrassed to smile.

Childbed (cenotaph song)

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Those who don’t die, desire, descend. No song aloft arises from my irk. The seeing chieftain, not of sea, nor sand, nor boat, I till nightfall stammer alive, dig boneless trenches against tiding dregs and lathe, hunt, wallow, plow the hours, call in awei

hendecasyllabic moon

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that moon does not think (unless mineral thoughts) . . .

Lips Like Oysters

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By the end of my Saturday night shift at the Oyster Bar I look like some kind of filthy nurse

The Words Fall Into Ash

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The two were huddled in a corner of an alley, joined by some others that I’m sure wandered into the darkness when they realized they were far from alone. That alley was the one off Market Street. I used to steal candy from the corner shop when I was nin

Fertility

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Today I'm feeling fertilized by an egg—

Missy

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If I had a daughter, this it how it would be. It would be all, Stand up straight, missy, shoulders back, no slouching, and she'd be sulky, sullen, pouting, wilful, and I'd see in her eyes, which would be my eyes, that she was starting to hate me, and I'd

Sign of the Times

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As I go by I see five, six high school kids standing on the corner waiting for the bus. They are huddled together like a bunch of ducks....

Scandal, in Eight Parking Arrangements

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4. Hers blocking driveway, his diagonal in grass

The Fifth Snatch

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...oh shit...

Stone Cold Sexy

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You drink in women's bodies, without reserve. You take a sip at the post office, a gulp at the gym, a teensy taste when we walk together. Tonight you even indulged as we were looking for a parking spot and passed some twenty-somethings, then followed up w

Tomatoes and Onions on the Bed

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That led to the first aid box on the bed at 3 in the morning, but what about those veggies?

Locations

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They confess love for Karaoke and metal rock. They have purchased expensive Stratocasters and Zildjians.

A Time for Peace

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When she opens the door, I say hi and introduce her to my friend, a bottle of J.T.S. Brown. She laughs and tells me to come on in before I fall down.

Nola Visit

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The little Lady and I drove down to New Orleans to take in the Mardi Gras festivities we’d read so much about.

Wedding

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The service was a disaster. The Protestants bobbed up and down. They didn't know when to stand, when to sit. I

Summer Waters

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A lifeboat came by in the night, And I finally saw we were sinking.

4:45pm, Philadelphia

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He stays a couple of yards behind me as we slog uphill. I try to diffuse the tension with a coy toss of head, slip on wet leaves. My ankle rolls and I splat noisily down. From my new angle his beard looks less stylish—bristles straggle all up his neck. He maintains…