Stories tagged creative-nonfiction

The Body of a Cow

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It’s Halloween in veterinary school. The large-animal vet who is lecturing today on introductory nomenclature in bovine medicine is dressed in full Holstein uniform. His entire body is cloaked in white cloth, with black patches sewed on and a three-dim

Regretting the Error

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A little-known fact among the members of the 86th Airlift Wing at Ramstein Air Force Base was that, after 1994, you needed a waiver if you were going to be flying approaches by the seat of your pants

Immigration

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Hecho en Mexico

39 Miles to Tupelo

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The cows in the nearby pasture / look the same as anywhere else.

Plymouth Circle

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...the Unitarian minister who / inspires you to share your Easter eggs / with those who are not hunters.

The Hunt

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Cold, swirling wind blows defiant around our covered heads. The air is gray, the ground is soft with intermittent frost, the sun is waning, a bleak yellow. We march across that field of dead grass and dandelion, our dirty sneakers crunching the life underneath our feet with…

Dreaming in Mink

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Kept in my mother's desk for years, the envelope yellowed. The glossy model went white in the creases.

Boiling the Dog's Head

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Why hadn't I made a plan?

Easter Oneday

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This tomb oozes sheet music boxing gloves wooden spoons blood tests garbage bags restraining orders beach towels divorce papers snapshots beer cans empty and full.

Sphincter

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My boyfriend is interested in the ways of holy men. He tells me about Tibetans who are so focused that they can suck water into their anuses by squeezing their sphincters. We sit naked in the Jemez River and try to suck water up our asses.

This is Home

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In a perfect world, national boundaries would not exist. Different cultures and traditions would still be there, but they would all coexist and people would borrow from each other with abandon. A real melting pot of a world. People would be able to come and go as they…

First Sex

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After our date, my sister, who has a boyfriend, came over with her Weimaraner. I started instantly to tell her of my sex with Nils. She shirked the conversation, tried to change the subject, and more than once, I persisted. I wanted her to hear about it.

Solzhenitsyn Jukebox

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A retired feminist literary agent named Jackie and her boyfriend, Jock, were on board. Jock was kind as one might expect of a man traveling with a feminist, and Jackie was happy yet stern. She mentored me one day over lunch.

Shout

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My damn thoughts scatter like mercury across the bathroom floor.

The Weight of a Gun

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The first time I ever held a gun, I was three years old...