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Until Tomorrow But That's Just Some Other Time

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Roanne awoke on the livingroom couch with the usual willies dancing in stomp time inside her. She blinked, looked around. The room was a mess, with clothes strewn hither and yon on the floor and the chairs and TV. On the walls, rock stars,…

In This Neo-Liberal Society, We Are All Julia Roberts

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When he was 24 he ran away with a girl, forgot about his little office job in the city, went with her to the mountains, just the two of them, to live out a life of romance that a chalk box like the metropolis can’t give you—

The bookshelf

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I grew up in a little red house filled with books. Both of my parents love to read, and the proof piled up in every room. Current books in the bedroom. Books from the last ten to twenty years in the living room and kitchen. Old books from their childhood and college days on…

Buddies to the End

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“Tell me how sad they are.”

Spices

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In the tang of winter warm and summer cool,

To the Palace

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Less than a week ago, I was still a republican. It’s strange what an invitation for a job interview at the Palace does with your principles. I’m especially nervous because the interview’s late in the afternoon. I could go to the be

A Vignette on Fathers

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On 3rd when you looked at your 389th happy New Year greeting, you autotyped “same to you”. No one on whatsapp knew. At week 17 of IVF therapy when you and your new bride could do no more; doctor Mehdi said neither could he. At 5 minutes left, you mi

"The Game Is Rigged" (A 2nd Letter From Uncle Bernie)

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We used to have a saying: steal an old lady’s pocketbook and you’ll go to jail, steal her pension and you’ll go to the Ritz.

Class

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Before they ever spoke, Linda and Meg had sat next to each other in the cramped lecture hall for three weeks, their thighs touching, while Dr. Laurens showed slides of ancient Japanese art. Meg's eyes never left the screen, but Linda glanced at her as often as she…

my future, maybe yours

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She went for the typewriter first.

First Man ~ 1947

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By the basement washtubs, I watched him skin a squirrel:

Closed Letter to Management

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don’t ask me to set my goals./ I have none except safe air to breathe,/ a reliable roof,/ something aromatic in the oven.

The Greenfather

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Italian authorities seized $1.9 billion in "green" investments made by La Cosa Nostra to launder money. Reuters

The Answer Man

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Her legs splayed out in front of her. She was a mess

Holding It In

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I really need to go to the bathroom.

Denouement

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No one has the right/ to script how someone dies.

There’s Just This

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Coupling—why did I say that? Who says that? I mean the clacking together of bones, the willful splitting of fine and tender skin.

Something like A Dark Knight

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Rob was having a hard time of it. His whole life was like that-- in and out of jail for assault, robbery and selling drugs. He tried to go straight. A career counselor, had set him up, with a job in a warehouse. But he just couldn't…

Deciding to Leave

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...Yet today, I fear / ordinary names for fantastic objects: Sex, Love, Mind.

Return To Sender.

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"...his previous prognosis of never being able to walk again has been upgraded to 'severe and debilitating physical pain and mental anguish,' so maybe there really IS a God!"

Simpler Disasters

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In the afternoon, there was a certain time when the sunlight spilled through the windows in the common room and made everything look all bright and fresh and optimistic. If you ignored the patients and doctors milling about and…

Don't Let Bears Give You a Headache

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You think about bears and it gives you a headache? Don’t give them that power. You see bears and it gives you a headache? Don’t run. Don’t walk but don’t run.

Five Million Yen: Chapter 10

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Ben watched the cat burglar snake his way from window ledge to window ledge.

Noir

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Upstairs, in a room where some years later, the occupant would be murdered by his lover, I sat in my skivvies in an armchair and wondered if I should call my wife.

Excelsior - A Poem in 9 Parts (post 4 of 5)

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VI. At Antares Alpha A pyramid carries four sides: only this one Is surmounted by a circle, and its cone Has all of what we claimed within its cargo, Or that shall never find a plan, or transit now; Though the sulphur and carmine skies that…

Mother

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He stood in the doorway of his mother's house. The doorway that separated the living room from the kitchen. Out of habit, he picked at the wallpaper. He had done this for years as a kid. Anytime a corner pulled up, he started tugging. Just a…

A Night of Furversion

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Another subject of interest is "furverts"--"individuals who engage in sexual activity while dressed in animal costumes."

Dancing

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The lights are dimAnd love's the mood tonight.Enveloped by DarknessPierced by rays of light;That black dressto meis pure delight.Dancing together,Arm in arm,arm over shoulder;I promiseI won't get any bolder.Eyes meet eyesYour lips against mine.My heart is pounding,Sweet…

There is No Logic in the Immediate Fact

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of a strangely found desire. I wanted to tell you something important, I'm sure, I mean it's pretty obvious, even in this funny breathing space, but everything has been said to death. More isn't always…

To Walk Backwards

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Tom wasn’t crying. A few snowflakes, the first of the season, flittered down and landed on Elizabeth’s new headstone, christening it. Tom didn’t have his topcoat, and he never buttoned his suit. He tried not to shiver. Lynn lifted her face from Tom’s c