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Mercy Mercy Mercy

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When I was young and self-born in religion my aunts, uninterested in being washed in the Blood of Christ, called me Preacher Boy. I didn't pay them any attention. It was fine by me, I said, if they wanted to sit around and paint their toenails . . .

This Is Who I Am

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I'm not interested in her that way.

The Perfect Recipe

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You treat them like I’m hungry. Fix it.

Nose

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At the conference her boss showed off his knowledge of wines.

Father Dunne's School for Wayward Boys #10

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I'm standing on a toilet, trapped behind a stall. Watching Father U mop up the blood.

Mercury Unbound - 4

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The music, Antonín Dvořák's 'New World Symphony,' the second movement, 'Largo,' immediately alters my mood.

Lule of Raw

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A discussion at the homeless colony under the expressway overpass crossing the river:

Dear Joe,

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Walk alone at night, quietly. Pause for eye contact with raccoons and night cats, your drunk self, and lights in the graveyard. Don't apologize for it in the morning. Instead of the shame you feel for one time acting selfishly and chasing a future, say…

If The Fire Is Not In Your Apartment

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If you get crushed in New York City that's your own problem.

The Year of the Horse

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“She's the year of the horse,” Metri said as he peeled his dirty head from the bed, his hair was as matted as a racoon tale. It was as wild as a wild animal and smelled like body odor with a hint of blood. He slid his scabbed hands up to his chest as if to…

It's A Different World When You Walk With A Cane

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People do want to be kind. It's just that sometimes they need a little push (or, in a few cases, a big fat shove) in the right direction.

In Time,

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IN TIME, we will walk on gravel paths studded with gemstones.

Parts

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Trigger warning: casualties of war.

Harlow's Monkeys

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...

Moon Over L.A.

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The moon begins to rise over L.A. while the roaches try to crawl up the sides of the mountains surrounding the L.A. Basin. While fires rage in the forests of the night, here comes the moon over the horizon, big and haunted, pock-marked and coo

Justice

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“Too dumb to live,” my wife said when cretins on a motorbike blasted around us nearly taking a side mirror with them.

Confronting the Alien

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I find Vermeer and Bach and feel/ for a moment a shower of my own world’s/ prismatics.

The Five of Cups

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Men aren't good at these kinds of things, my mother tells me. She states it as if it is a scientific fact.

The Celebrity

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Mr. Blumberg and I sat side by side on a small couch in the family room. He was watching a football game on TV.

Paris

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the boredom inherent in living in the suburbs

The Lost Meaning

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of any cautionary tale is somewhere found rolling around in your own sweet voice for me. Your sound's still listing there inside my wobbly head. My head is too often in my open hands, grinning behind its face-mask like a parade on…

Arcade

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My father owned a penny arcade. I worked for him every summer all during my youth. My job was to hand green tickets to customers who achieved a certain score on Skee-Ball or shuffleboard. The coupons could be redeemed for merchandise which we had on display on…

Against Disorder

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It is true that the college dogs spread vermin, reeked and shat on the soccer field...

Bowling With Diane Keaton

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Friday night, 80s halcyon,a memory of October bowling.The suburban lanes loudwith kids and kinetic releaseof balls slamming on maple.I have no footwork, no senseof release, fingers sweatyin the grips, resin droppingwith a hollow boomfollowed by derision from more adept…

Merry Christmas

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He picked at his food. The teen-aged boys gnawed the bones. The conversation was nothing he was interested in. Chitchat and family jokes.

Various War Stories

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War Stories #1The Germans didn't like that theJews had such beautiful women.War Stories#2There must have been a war between the good witches and the bad witches. It's the only thing that would account for such troubling times.Woman With Yellow HatWhy did…

clutter

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am i a coin

The Hamburger Story

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I didn’t like her. I like the name. You know I hate that name. I always thought you were funny. Maybe even more than you were mean.

So long

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Years later he surveys this place again to post something, anything. He plays "sex on fire," sounds that once fueled him. Now he knows the song is about VD, not unbridled potency. Names and words all seem at once familiar and numbing and noise. He once wanted fame or…

The Ogontz Branch

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There are stories I will not tell, stories I shudder / to remember. You'll forgive me for withholding them from you. / You may, of course, not tell me everything about yourself either