1641 2 1
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I knew nothing about the letter at first. When I came in that morning and smiled and said good morning, it was a genuine smile and a heartfelt good morning. But the letter, which had arrived the previous afternoon, was already doing its corrosive work of
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164132
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my fingers vibrate magnetic/
a humming void/
where my brain was
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164011
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The dog was there before Vera was there, so she supposed she couldn't hate it too much. It wasn't like she had to live with the thing, either, though she might as well have hosted it in her ear for the eight months it took that particular batch of neighbo
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16402013
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164043
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Still no rain. Eight months, says Hollister. More like nine, says James Earl. We stand in Hollister’s high meadow, what’s left of it.
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1640114
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I have an appointment set for the day after next; you said you thought you might be firing blanks and then I feel a kick into my chest—two kicks, three, seven at least—my cat is going crazy at the stinky tom outside the window and the birds are waking, sc
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16401212
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Your mother is a great and dying bird. Once, she tended her grand feathered nest. Once, she preened.
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163930
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“He looks funny again,” the twins would say. “Cow looks funny, Mummy.”
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1639106
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Rush had a black eye and a bucket of dirty water. Look, a baby turtle he said, like that explained everything. Yes, I did lack a turtle so thank you for disappearing for three months and returning with a goddamned turtle. His weird homecoming gift took my…
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163931
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Her dress swirled around her as she stepped into the ballroom, looking every bit as sultry as her recent Playboy cover...
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163954
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Pombo had never exhibited such powers of concentration with elevators or with other escalators, the young girl confessed to the museum staff.
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163900
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Her mouth was sour; her forehead was still damp with perspiration. She leaned against the bathroom wall and noted her complexion had gone pale. She wanted to slide down the wall and rest until she felt steadier, but…
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1639109
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1639105
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Brazilian girls yammer
with their book bags
up against my leg.
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16391810
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It’s Sunday- no need to shave-/
but shave, I do. A little act//
of discipline in the discipline/
of routine.
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16391413
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My art teacher hated Salvador Dali.
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16391513
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San Bruno avenue, six shops in eight blocks. Those Vietnamese ladies thrive on the pedicure trade.
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163911
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so I tighten hands with my castaway and say/you failed to impress in your folded peacock dress
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163964
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This year I did not markthe day of your death.I let it slip by in an afternoonfilled with music you'll never hear,words you'll never read,a chorus of voices raised in protestat the unwavering passage of time.I don't need a numberto know that you are gone.Since you went…
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1639105
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My banker said, "We've millions we can spare,
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163997
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When I first arrived/footling-breeched/you two were there/ahead of me.
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163975
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A performance is a series of situations. Each situation defines the characters that are in it.
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1639106
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Rarely is Quay Street so clean,
Monday in rain,
Neactain’s ticking over with
Slow jazz and crosswords,
Stout and steaming anoraks.
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163900
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Frowning, loosening a purple tie, Tony pushed through the golden revolving doors of a skyscraper. He drifted into the crowded midtown street as if in a daze. He was roused to his senses as his cell phone sent out the melody of his wedding song.
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16381112
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The shop is swarming with little women.
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163865
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You may think you've tasted envy, but yours was just a sour sip of wine at a civilized wine-tasting. Mine is bottom-shelf, well-brand gin in a biker bar with miss-the-urinal piss stains on the floor.
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1638106
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My first girlfriend had blue Christmas lights strung on trees in front of her stone house. My family had all gone to bed. When midnight came, it was snowing.
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163800
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Sofia looked around and found herself at a boulevard. She could see the town exit ahead of her. The bike still lied on the ground.
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16381211
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I walked to work back then...
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163811
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A rose and two dollars. Where did they come from? I didn't know anyone who had visited my parents' grave recently, yet that evening I saw a white rose on my mother's side and two bucks on my father's. I took the money and placed my own flowers with the rose. It had to have…
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