Wandering around the east end of South Street, Philadelphia, we come upon an outdoor market. The tourist sign says this structure, a long, narrow, roofed but open sided building, has been a market for centuries. Farmers would pull their wagons up to the arched openings along the side of the tunnel and sell until the … Continue reading Vulnerable
Month: August 2013
Not Funny
I wake early on a Saturday morning and the house feels wrong. Dad is home and the phone keeps ringing and the neighbors are here and no one is talking when I enter the kitchen. Before I get a chance to explore the cereal cabinet my father takes me by the arm and leads me … Continue reading Not Funny
Writing in the Negative
If she'd said, "I love Desperate Housewives," or "I love Twilight" with the same amount of feeling it wouldn't have registered, despite the loud, nerve-grating voice. I would have walked on by, navigating the crowded street corner with my hands full of heavy grocery bags as I've done a hundred times before. I would have … Continue reading Writing in the Negative
Memory
I don't trust memory. I am nine or ten, and I am sleeping over at my friend Holly's house. (Holly is not her real name. It shouldn't matter, since she is dead now, but I feel the need to protect her.) I know Holly doesn't have a dad, which isn't too strange. This is the … Continue reading Memory
To My Six Year Old Nephew As He Starts First Grade
I know right now it is all the excitement of a new backpack and a new pencil-case and new notebooks and maybe a bit of apprehension about who your new teacher will be, and if your best friend is going to be in your classroom. You are already, academically speaking, way ahead of your fellow … Continue reading To My Six Year Old Nephew As He Starts First Grade
This is dedicated to:
If I ever get my fiction published, I will dedicate my first book to my seventh grade teacher. This is what the dedication will say: To Mrs. Weigel, who gave me an award for a story I didn't write. Yeah, that story of mine that you gushed over, that earned me the only A+ I … Continue reading This is dedicated to:
Lazy Thinking
Ok - so you might have heard of this woman already... Anita Sarkeesian is an über modern feminist and pop culture critic. Recently, she took on the gaming industry and the game boys fought back. They literally threatened to kill her, stalked her all over the internet and turned their harassment into a kind of social media … Continue reading Lazy Thinking
Disgusting Creature
I know you were here, you left the evidence all over the kitchen counter, you disgusting creature. You ignore the treats I leave out for you and feast instead on some invisible spot of grease I neglected to scrub away. I can't clean anymore. My hands are shriveled prunes. The smell of bleach is overwhelming … Continue reading Disgusting Creature
The things I don’t know
I never read Animal Farm. I know what it is about. I understand its social significance. I read the Cliff Notes. I am an excellent reader, and I got more out of that summary than other teenagers got out of the real book. Animal Farm, and The Lord of the Flies, and The Catcher in … Continue reading The things I don’t know
Stop staring at me
The reflection is blurry, softer, cleaner. The lighting is dim, inside that other bathroom, the walls don't need new paint and the cracked tile floor is invisible. Perhaps it isn't cracked at all in there. Perhaps you just float, no need for feet or floors. You are always there, inside the glass, staring out into … Continue reading Stop staring at me
Mind of a Mouse 