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If I were dying

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The doctor told me: "You have 24 hours to live. no more, no less."

Calm Face

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I went for a walk to buy coffee, here's what I saw

Emotional and Overheated Words Online Reviewers Of Lava Lamps Might Wish They Could Take Back

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“In retrospect, perhaps I should ask my renter’s insurance to cover damage from lava lamp discharges. But I am not a person who enjoys a fracas.”

(1) Nan

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[Her adviser] looked at her and tilted his head, smiling. Over his shoulder she saw the M104 bus cruising up Broadway, and considered diving under it. Instead she took off toward the corner, in shame, and he followed. When they parted ways, he took her ha

Puff

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As I fed Puff, I thought about the nightmare Lily shared with me that morning. She dreamed Puff had a hole in his throat and all his blood squirted out until he got as small and skinny as a deflated baloon.

The Dog by the River

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I am seven years old today and I want the dog by the river, the one with the great mane of hair like my father's who is a singer at night, and with big ears, too, that grow from the top of its head so that I can tug on them if it's being bad or stroke them…

Black Squirrel Poem

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disorderly black squirrels / inhabit upper Michigan

You Don't Have to Read This

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I get it. Poetry is an effort. Language is an effort. Words are an effort. Reading words is an effort. A big effort. It takes energy. Attention. Focus. Who has that? Nobody. So truly. I mean it. You don't have to read this. If you're already reading this you can…

To the Bear in a Neighbor’s Tree

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In the night, a several-hundred-pound Black Bear scaled our neighbor’s back fence, bounded down the gravel footpath between our houses and, confused by the people and lights, followed his instincts up a large pine tree across the street...

Nonesuch

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The morning of her suicide, Nonny Rice received a letter.

Where I've Been the Last 10 or More Years

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It's been so long since I've been in touch with any of you—if I ever was in touch with you—because my family and I took up residence in the local Wal•Mart.

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

Love

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Trent’s had many phases: Madonna, Bette, leather, water sports, rollerblading, haiku, chicken queen, rice queen, muscle queen, daddy. But religion? This is new.

Who Is Don Galt?

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Don Galt’s butterflies swallowed Peter Robinson’s holdings on a cool and cloudy December afternoon.

Flaubert Eats Breakfast with His Mom

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your mania for sentences / has dried up your heart

Peggy Guggenheim Visits her Favorite Question

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Q: “How many husbands have you had, Mrs. Guggenheim?” A: “D’you mean my own, or other people’s?”

The Bob Delusion

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It couldn’t be a worse time for failed novelist Robert Grayson. He’s 40 and falling apart. He’s balding and accumulating a gut. His job writing technical manuals for software looks like it might get cut. Then his wife does the unthinkable and files

Sketches for My Sweetheart the Drunk

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A portrait of my sweetheart drawn while she is asleep: a passed-out angel illuminated by the light of dawn coming in from the bathroom window, one of her shoes missing.

On the Way to Your First AA Meeting

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The memory of thinking in some other language

A Beautiful Ancient Ghostly Passionate Spirit of the Stars

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Fabio has a soul of passion. A beautiful soul of passion. His passionate soul was so beautiful the ancient stars shone upon him and made him look like ghosts at night.

The Egg Whisk

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A plain oval face, opaque except for a birthmark streaking the right cheek like chicken shit.

Athena 2.0

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The story goes that the night before I was born my dad had a terrible headache.

moon halo

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(one of my early works: an image-text collage, animated in flash.)

"Oh, what's this?" she

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"So, like the Goldilocks thing…"

Often I think on who pulls the strings,

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In a plush leather chair, / high up a shiny skyscraper,

Comfort of Friends

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She drove me to radiation, to acupuncture and support group. She brewed me concoctions that smelled of twigs and dirt...

Intolerable Impositions

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"She gnawed her arm off in the morning, before he woke...."

Tongue

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I watch my mother No longer beautiful or charming Her left arm shaking Her mind a gone thing no longer doing her wrong Wandering away from me in the mall To kiss the hands of strangers...

After Bukowski

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The night she left she claimed she fucked Bukowski.

When Horses Fly

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Gerald's law practice wasn't new. He'd worked on the law review and finished near the top of his class thirty years ago. After earning his J.D., he'd gotten a master of law in taxation. His favorite cases required researching legal precedents, and he…