Most discussed stories

Triolet

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the magic is our making

once upon a time in Sumeria

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Suddenly there was a crash of thunder, and they raised their eyes for the first time heavenwards. That was the beginning of what we call civilisation. - adapted from Prolegomena to Work in Progress — Stuart GilbertIt's the third year of the third millenium,…

Fantasy of Hands

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Missing

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... he led what might be called a quiet life

Old or Fat

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Which is worse?

Chinchillas in the Air

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He rounds his back to stretch again, circles his arms like a ballerina, settles into the couch cushion behind him. “We made plans. Real plans. New York City. Live like bohemians. Fuck like chinchillas.”

Bait Shop

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They wanted to go fresh water fishing, so I had to buy worms. None there in the saltwater town. Drove about 10 miles over the long bridge to cross the bay. I'd been there before. Walked in and a crusty, little skinny man got up from his chair. He: Watcha need? Me: Fresh…

Ketchup and eggs

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As a young baby, perhaps a year old, I have a memory of sitting on myfathers lap, in front of a coal stove to keep us warm, while my mothercooked soft boiled eggs for him every morning. He would break offa piece of his toast, dip it in the egg, and feed it to…

Cavafy's Double Helix

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The store was closing for good, and so I purchased a book of poems by Cavafy, that poet of ruins and tombstones, and fragments from disintegration.

Hungry

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Why do people kill themselves with food? It’s obvious, I suppose. They’re hungry.

The Nurse

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I lay on a table in a cold room in one of those little blue gowns that open in back.

Jouissance

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BECAUSE to fuck is an incidental REASON to be here

REJECTED

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Your specific request that I never submit to you again; ever, is cause for puzzlement, yet strangely motivating.

Still Life

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She was a moon dancer, keeper of secrets,

At This Particular Moment

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in time there is nothing more important for meto write than this line. It isn't defined in the way you'd like perhaps, but it doesn't matter because it will be true, and you will be true, and I will be the message you get. Some signal has…

magnets

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... his skin glistened like a sharp blade

Killing with kindness

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I have a few medical issues.

New World

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The flash of love was real, the life within her was real, and the main thing now was to climb.

Origins

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I was sleeping the night of a hurricane party. I awoke to lightning flashes. They lit the undersides of descending clouds, and lit the shadows of scattering dancers. The hurricane must have turned inland.

Flicking On Some Trees, Just To See Your Silly Grin in the Half-Light of the Moon

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The world knows how to make you smile. I'm certain, but it's your own unique grin that they want for themselves. It's always been their perfect prize to horde. The trouble of course comes from wanting something that only exists in…

Let's Start with the End

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Let’s start with the end—death. Upbeat, huh?

Denmark (or On the Death of John Updike)

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The impression old Updike left on a young mind.

backwash

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today

My Tongue

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A nun once told me to watch my tongue. This is not an easy thing to do.

Drive, you sd, for christ's sake

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This weekend was supposed to be about intellect and soul-mating, but, like all others, it's turned into body and longing. You sit in my passenger seat and I let you smoke in my wee car with the windows rolled down. We've come from a wedding, a fairy ring, a…

The Telescope

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The man meets a woman while out on his lunch break. She seems nice; they strike up a conversation. Before leaving, the woman gives the man her telephone number. The man goes home and thinks about it. It’s been a long time since he’s been on a date.

Minerva Gets Pierced by Love

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Minerva one night had a change of plans, for Mr. Wright knocked on her door in the form of a potbellied perv with a Vaseline mustache.

Tuscumbia, Alabama

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My dad at the wheel, my mother's ulcer inflamed, she puked her way across northern Alabama that summer, from Huntsville and the rusting rockets to Tuscumbia, the farthest any of us had been west. We drove through raw, blistered towns,…

Ways in Which Looks Deceive

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Everything is illuminated. If anyone is watching, we look happy.

One of Four

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She stood with her sisters, pretty maids in a row, felt cold despite the scorching spring sun. Heard what the man said but didn’t register; words from the Lord flew around her like the flighty trill of the robins up above. The birds made more sense.