“I heard your dad took out the Dairy Queen drive-thru,” said Pat.

“Last night the Scots invaded Sweden,” I wrote, “to retrieve the silver filched from the Irish the Norwegians had in their coffers when Sweden conquered. The Swedes offered the Nobel to a Scots writer to keep ... the peace."

I rummage around to see which of our many countertop appliances might do the trick. Yogurt maker? No, I need something with more muscle. The Cuisinart--just the thing! I pick through the detachable blades—where’s the isotope shredder?

...a blunt thrust of a face, uncongenial in profile, and the ubiquitous green cap that says John Deere, with the yellow ideogram of a deer for graduates of our local schools.

Ma tells me not to put a tampon between my legs. For fear of cotton fornication.

Out the window is an empty birdbath, dry flaky concrete ring, no birds.

It seems the people of this house were a happy family – The smiling faces, the children’s enthusiasm tells me as much. I wonder what happened to them.

[continued from part one...]After sweeps, my schoolwork started to slip. I had trouble paying attention in class, and my workbooks and tests came back from the teacher marked in ketchup red ink. I had always been a good student, and this academic…

"I sighed heavily. 'Goddamn it...' I spat under my breath. 'Every motherfucking time..."

Years After she can go home.

Did we get Jihadi John?/ And the highway to Mosul?// What’s the score?

When they called him down there to the morgue to identify the body, he drove behind the wheel of his truck like some steady maniac on a long haul. The Ford 150 cried out for new shocks, but that hardly mattered. Mud plastered side panels and…

We didn't wear shoes in the summer, except for Sunday school and church. The soles of our feet were black and tough as shoe leather.

Down South now means August cold snap, the forties roaring my wool cap off my head.

All of those lovelies, pitched on the ground, ignored and ready to rot.