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#53 Cut Up

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I loved her when she first came calling in the sodden dawn of spring. She was a strange and dangerous flower. Together we drank up all the money. The days staggered away like drunks lurching down a flophouse hall.

Things that blow up

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For as long as John could remember, he loved to blow up things. It started back in grade school with firecrackers and cherry bombs—he would put them in toys, tin cans, shit like that to see what would happen. Then he advanced to stronger stuff, M-80s. Skip and…

Confession

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It is not simple to love in two places, and I have always been a restless woman waiting for signs. Then you appeared walking on my very grave while the stars aligned themselves in patterns of celestial light. I have watched the moon eclipse with you drawing breath…

The Hors d’oeurves Plate at the OH Townhouse, Eureka

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They got slices of greasy salami On top of round mini carrots, celery Pepperoncini, slices of sweet pickles They got cinder block walls A Tiki Bar with glasses hanging Upside down from the stemware over the bar They got wood paneling, cottag

Last Visit to Mauritius Island

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So I threw away all my stuff, because I was tired of it, and because I decided I wanted to revive the Oral Tradition. I figured if it was good enough for our ancestors, it couldn't be all that bad, not that I’m really into history or cultural stagnancy o

writing in loops

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Antique pens better allow an old soul to express what needs expressing.

Scanner

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The Bearcat 101 was a police scanner popular with a certain type during in the 1970s. Daddy was that exact type. I found the Bearcat in his apartment after he passed. His illness was a common one, the process gradual, implacable. No red and blue…

The Fat Man and the Magician

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The Fat Man took a sip of whiskey, then replaced his glass on the table next to his fedora. …

Gilbert B Fumbleberry

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“You know, Miss Viv, I love looking at the sun when it’s almost gone. It kinda looks like an orange and apple squished together. Those are the colors. And the puffy clouds under it look like a bed. It’s going to sleep."

Before the Divorce

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Me leaving is not the confirmation of all your fears. It is not. It's because of them.

Desert

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Tonight’s concert was called Desert.

Panic Pure

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He said, “It was only after I broke my neck and even like maybe a year later that I really started realizing that I had something to say.”

Sushi's Night Out

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... she’d stolen her boyfriend away from her, leaving her with a goldfish and a cat. Oh, and a pillow and some lights, she added. And I can’t really see you, because I’m blind.

Literary Intercourse

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Meaning is harder to sell, unless it’s an analysis of why there is a Justin Bieber.”

More from The Chronicles of His Demise

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Dread and drudgery sour each day

Stealing From A Corpse

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He kept one scarf. It was the scarf that she would tie around his eyes to play with him, long, until he was in his teens. A silly game that made her happy and he squirmed with delight until he got too old. She did not want him to see her, only to know if

Grey Zones

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There are these unspoken zones,where everybody is corrupt,and everybody is a con artist.Half the people are frauds,and the other half are phonies.Each person trying to outwit the next person,while everybody else tries to pick each others' pocket.Simultaneously and…

On A Carport in Bethlehem

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I can hear soft rain

Things an Old Person Would Say

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Obituaries aren’t as much fun as they used to be.

what audible skill

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We all heard the audible skill you had, speaking smoothly of our lives, saying audibly what has driven us, who are huge with night, rising with its origin inside, and clear water running past, beyond, behind, and after us. To honor, to fear utteranc

Tuonela

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Just a lot of honking and hissing.

Portrait of the Author as a Poet

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I am an awful poet.

Karma Wash, Hog Wash, and Swill

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The beer on the shore is Lapping at the foam of memory And I can’t sit still Until I take my pill Karma Wash, Hog Wash and Swill I went to the top of the heap At the bottom of the Hill I saw a bum’s sign that read: “Will eat dog food for

Five Million Yen: Chapter 71

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It was that awkward time when one didn’t know if the night’s lover wanted to see you again.

The Day of the Dust Devils

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The main street has turned into the lowland of dust devils, with the red sun scorching, continuing to serve the living like a giant blood pentacle.It looks like a heathen ritual invoking an ugly looking God with wings or horns, but beneath the whirlwind of rising…

...until love lasts.

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She didn't know why she thought the ring wouldn't fit her finger, but it slid on easily and effortlessly, coming to rest in the old familiar place it always had, the groove that had worn in her finger after seven years of wearing it. She hadn't worn it in a few months,…

Shovel

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each vertebra is a golden cavalier, brave in upright vigilance; stoic heroes.

Barnegat Bay

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I whispered, “I love you” and then, “Goodbye”

How to Lose Control of Your Pencil

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Real hands

Five Million Yen: Chapter 60

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Thérèse Defarge felt the first drop around ten.