athesaurus.com

…breathe deeply and often…

  • What makes me giggle? I giggle when I get attention I don’t understand. I feel too exposed, and I don’t like the word “vulnerable.” I’ve worked too hard not to be. I need to giggle more. It’s supposed to be good for you. I’ve heard it burns calories better than exercise. Some folks are born

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  • Poor Ophelia

    Poor Ophelia.  Honor the birds that sing for you Listen for their songs Delight in their music If you can If you can Damn you, Hamlet, the twin that didn’t live  ruined everything. Daddy won’t ever be right again.  And there’s no room for you, is there, little girl? Mad’s triple talk. Are you out

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  • Grown Up

    The first time I ever felt like a grown up was on the Monday before the surgeon told me the boys were coming Wednesday at 9:00 a.m. “Not to worry,” said the husband, “our lifestyle won’t change much.” The baby beds hadn’t been bought, the nursery hadn’t been painted. He said he’d see to that. 

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  • Being Prompt

    Being Prompt “You’re early,” “You were here first, and it doesn’t start for another hour,” said AJ. “So, what are you doing here now? Everything’s been done. They’ve got people for everything,” “I like to fine tune the space’s vibe. Play some music maybe, get the ambiance going in the right direction. Tune the energy

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  • If I Didn’t Live Here If I didn’t live here I might as well live in a fishing village in Scotland. I did in a past life and worked in a clock shop, and wore burlap, even my shoes were burlap. I lived above the shop, right on the sea wall. My job was to

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  • Feral UFO

    “It rose up from the Earth like a feral UFO. I swear,” “You’re just aggravated that you had to get up early. You wanted to sleep late, and don’t pour anything but distilled water on my amaryllis, it will die. I’ve been babying that thing. It’s beautiful, and I want it to stay that way. 

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  • Ghost Cat

    Aaron felt something wrap around his leg, and he jumped.

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  • Houdini Gigs

    “I believe the the most important single thing beyond discipline  and creativity is daring to dare.”  Maya Angelou “K, so, if you go up on that stage there’s a real good chance you’re going to sound bad. You don’t sing, you whine,” Ronnie said.  “I’m not going to sing, I’m going to shine,” said Eddie.

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  • The Mighty Oak

    The Mighty Oak Although it is true that it looks easy, swinging off a rope ain’t what it’s cracked up to be. It takes more engineering and logic than some people have to make it work right.    When the dirt road was eye level to the best swinging branch of the giant oak tree,

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  • How To Invoke A Muse

    Alicia Keyes, cool woman and soul singer, said, “You already have everything you need inside of you right now, today.”  Every ceremony begins with an invocation, a throwback to the Greeks or Romans or one of those ancient peoples who were scared of angering the gods. An invocation is an invitation to the muse to

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  • Ancient Days      

    “In those days, in those distant days, in those ancient nights stories were told before there were things to tell stories about, Mom,” Sugar said over her shoulder as she walked out the door and slammed it. “I’m sick of your stories, you tell stories like all the damn time like I’m supposed to learn Read more

  • Rocky

    “Will you go out with me?” He had the confidence of a lion, and looked like a giraffe in red school boy glasses. Red rimmed uber cool school boy glasses, worn by the king nerd of all nerds. He would  never have the ability to wear a straight  tie, it wasn’t in his DNA. God Read more

  • Red Shoes

    Bells chimed when I opened the door to the shoe shop. “Tips for a Tattoo,” were the words in calligraphy on the vase beside a picture of a rose. The gussied up jar had its own table with a white linen tablecloth in the center of the room, under a spotlight, no less. Very fancy Read more

  • Free Falling

    Falling no end in sightfrom heaven?to heaven?to Earth?to ocean?Where do we go when we drift across the skysomeone tell mesomeone sayI don’t want to be afraid to fallmaybe in love. Read more

  • Broken Promises

    Don’t know when I’ve been so very let downMy lips pressed tight right into a grimaceShould have known, didn’t want to show the frownFrustrated shake of the head, a red face.Tears, a bitter smile, a heavier sigh, I should have known better than to trust youSag against the wall, attempting to hideHands that hang, lifeless, Read more

  • Rage Against the Night

    House at Dusk, Edward Hopper I stumbled out of the mansion’s patio door, the band blared jazz, and I needed air, the whole house panted with people. My head was hot and my hair stuck to my neck from the prickly head, My ears rang from music, laughter, and the jumbled jargon of the rich Read more

  • What makes me giggle? I giggle when I get attention I don’t understand. I feel too exposed, and I don’t like the word “vulnerable.” I’ve worked too hard not to be. I need to giggle more. It’s supposed to be good for you. I’ve heard it burns calories better than exercise. Some folks are born

    Read more

  • Poor Ophelia

    Poor Ophelia.  Honor the birds that sing for you Listen for their songs Delight in their music If you can If you can Damn you, Hamlet, the twin that didn’t live  ruined everything. Daddy won’t ever be right again.  And there’s no room for you, is there, little girl? Mad’s triple talk. Are you out

    Read more

  • Grown Up

    The first time I ever felt like a grown up was on the Monday before the surgeon told me the boys were coming Wednesday at 9:00 a.m. “Not to worry,” said the husband, “our lifestyle won’t change much.” The baby beds hadn’t been bought, the nursery hadn’t been painted. He said he’d see to that. 

    Read more

  • Being Prompt

    Being Prompt “You’re early,” “You were here first, and it doesn’t start for another hour,” said AJ. “So, what are you doing here now? Everything’s been done. They’ve got people for everything,” “I like to fine tune the space’s vibe. Play some music maybe, get the ambiance going in the right direction. Tune the energy

    Read more

  • If I Didn’t Live Here If I didn’t live here I might as well live in a fishing village in Scotland. I did in a past life and worked in a clock shop, and wore burlap, even my shoes were burlap. I lived above the shop, right on the sea wall. My job was to

    Read more

  • Feral UFO

    “It rose up from the Earth like a feral UFO. I swear,” “You’re just aggravated that you had to get up early. You wanted to sleep late, and don’t pour anything but distilled water on my amaryllis, it will die. I’ve been babying that thing. It’s beautiful, and I want it to stay that way. 

    Read more

  • Ghost Cat

    Aaron felt something wrap around his leg, and he jumped.

    Read more

  • Houdini Gigs

    “I believe the the most important single thing beyond discipline  and creativity is daring to dare.”  Maya Angelou “K, so, if you go up on that stage there’s a real good chance you’re going to sound bad. You don’t sing, you whine,” Ronnie said.  “I’m not going to sing, I’m going to shine,” said Eddie.

    Read more

  • The Mighty Oak

    The Mighty Oak Although it is true that it looks easy, swinging off a rope ain’t what it’s cracked up to be. It takes more engineering and logic than some people have to make it work right.    When the dirt road was eye level to the best swinging branch of the giant oak tree,

    Read more

  • How To Invoke A Muse

    Alicia Keyes, cool woman and soul singer, said, “You already have everything you need inside of you right now, today.”  Every ceremony begins with an invocation, a throwback to the Greeks or Romans or one of those ancient peoples who were scared of angering the gods. An invocation is an invitation to the muse to

    Read more


  • Barefoot Willie, revisited

    Barefoot Willie sang to his bunny and his bunny sang to him.

  • Carolina on Their Minds

    Mary rolled the joint with a dollar bill and impressed the four others in the room as usual. Every Tuesday for the last two years the “Women of Presence” as they had labeled themselves, met in Lynn’s basement room and got high after work. Mary passed the joint to Sallie, who lit it herself. “I…

  • Healing Presence

    My seven a.m. writing group has been a healing presence for me. I’ve expressed more of myself to that group of people in fact and fiction than I ever have to any relative, friend, or therapist. Because of them, I’ve grown as a writer and a human. The journey continues to be full. I learn…

  • Three or Four Cabinets

    The ladies of the family have a disease. We are besotted with the collecting of pretty vintage dishes. Cheap dime store ceramics, thrift store cut crystal, hand me down depression glass and more fill not one but three china cabinets in my little old lady school teacher’s home. Actually, there are four if you count…

  • Virgie’s Soup

    My grandmother, Virgie made soup from whatever she had in the pantry, canned tomatoes, corn, green beans, potatoes, and carrots.  She cooked it down then thickened it up. It was sour with a hint of all the vegetables working in tandem. Soup days at Virgies’s were reserved for project days. We could work straight through,…