Monthly Archives: December 2021

off she went

Nothing Left Maria realized the more time passed the more one was alone, adrift, assailed. The only point was there was no point. Survive one more day, one more hour. There was nothing left for Maria to do but go … Continue reading

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lower the lifeboats

Interlude III (Dark Water Tanka) Lower the lifeboats—We tread nose-deep in the plague—Lifelines beyond us.We roil dark water and sink.The mermaids sing for no one. “I have heard the mermaids singing, each to each.I do not think that they will … Continue reading

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of the fiends

Maria’s Nightmare Erasures “The words are growing in the field, and they hover above the page. They’re like flowers, and I pick the ones I like. My eye is roaming all over, trying to make connections.” — Mary Ruefle / … Continue reading

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her next move

Viral Avoidance Two-Step Maria slipped through the mangrove swamps—apropos, considering the strangeness of the inland country—all manner of bird calls but not a single bird visible. She retraced the miles back south to her home town by the sea—but was … Continue reading

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appease and applause

A Move North and Inland Maria moved further north, and inland, away from her home town—away from the hassle of hipster hoodoo. A transmission blared: … don’t bring me no corner gape, nothing eager, and nothing to prance about. No … Continue reading

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in my (temporary) neighborhood

Interlude II “The lands and waters they gave us did not belong to them to give. Under false pretenses we signed. After drugging by drink, we signed. With a mass of gunpower pointed at us, we signed. With a flotilla … Continue reading

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good vibe-osity

A Grand Idea Well, it didn’t snow in the south on Christmas, and certainly not in Maria’s home town by the sea. Now, the only thing Maria wanted for Christmas was a plague doctor’s mask—with a bonafide beak protuberance for … Continue reading

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get a woman

Why Not? Maria thought it should snow in the south—in her home town, just for one day. After all, hadn’t Mrs. Claus superseded the Heat Miser’s restrictions and gone straight to Mother Nature to get the override for a white … Continue reading

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best we can

Underlying Conditions Maria awoke with a fitful start. She palmed her phone and furiously tapped an email to the reindeer: Dear ‘Deer, Stay home this year. Santa has underlying conditions: a 35 BMI, high blood pressure, a touch of asthma, … Continue reading

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word piles high

Interlude I (Palimpsest Thick) She wrote in minusculeHandwriting—On a cuneiform roll She cut and pasted sillyPutty—In canted abandon She printed the wordAnocracy—A word unknown She layered a palimpsestThick—With self-inflicted pain She built the word pilesHigh—She tried. She failed.She failed again.She … Continue reading

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