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Shunning is done with silent delight.
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It wasn’t the right plant for the right place like she’d hoped.
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It was a monumental act of kindness.
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I bought the perfect shoes to wear to my niece’s wedding. They were black leather with an inch and a half kitten heel. Just above the heel was a gold plate that made me glisten when I walked. But I didn’t have a dress, so I made one. I haven’t done any real sewing, not
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“Your ideas are weird. We don’t want to play with you anymore,” said first grader Selene to first grader me. We were writing a script for a play everyone didn’t know they already knew the words to. They were such babies. I figured the first grade debacle was just frustration over writing the script, and
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She twirled and emerged from the rose that was her dress. The petals, layers of dark crimson velvet and rose red chiffon fell around her pirouettes and toe shoes. She leapt through the air. All eyes were on her. Grace and glory. A vision of beauty in time and space, she couldn’t have been more
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He wasn’t sure he could stay up that late. It was a fluke that he was awake at this hour.
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When I got to college the world changed.
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The lights went low and laser lights, mirror balls, black lights, and neon blazed.
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The principal smiled a cold smile. He didn’t like my question.
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A Prayer for School
Dear Lord, Take the thunderstorm out of my brain when my lightning temper flares. Let my past stop ruling my head and teach me silent grace. Teach me to accept my students as humans with quirks, and humor, not the hateful banshees I see them as. Lead me to peace and joy with them rather Read more
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Patience of the trees
I grew up on a dirt road with quiet skies and darkened rooms where there was one light in the center of the room and two table lamps, a luxury beside a rocking chair and one end of the couch for reading. The kitchens had a dim bulb in the middle as did the bedrooms. Read more
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Message
I’ve been to two funerals this week. Two uncles, one from my dad, one from my mom. Dad’s brother had a military funeral, Mom’s brother had a Masonic funeral. The military funeral had a twenty-one gun salute at the end of it. The Masons chanted and made hand signals. Both were dignified and sent the Read more
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A path through the woods
There were hundreds of acres to explore and I suppose we stepped through all of them. We walked through the woods for miles, following each other. The path was the one we created, or sometimes the deer or both. They are creatures of habits, the same as we. We had no place in mind to Read more
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First Memories
I have two distinct memories before I could walk. The first one was being held in my uncle’s arms and reaching for my mother. I loved my uncle Paul as much as any six or seven month old can love another human being who’s around all the time. But I remember throwing my body towards Read more
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Winter is…is not
Cold…killing cold. Read more
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Shunning is done with silent delight.
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It wasn’t the right plant for the right place like she’d hoped.
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It was a monumental act of kindness.
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I bought the perfect shoes to wear to my niece’s wedding. They were black leather with an inch and a half kitten heel. Just above the heel was a gold plate that made me glisten when I walked. But I didn’t have a dress, so I made one. I haven’t done any real sewing, not
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“Your ideas are weird. We don’t want to play with you anymore,” said first grader Selene to first grader me. We were writing a script for a play everyone didn’t know they already knew the words to. They were such babies. I figured the first grade debacle was just frustration over writing the script, and
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She twirled and emerged from the rose that was her dress. The petals, layers of dark crimson velvet and rose red chiffon fell around her pirouettes and toe shoes. She leapt through the air. All eyes were on her. Grace and glory. A vision of beauty in time and space, she couldn’t have been more
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He wasn’t sure he could stay up that late. It was a fluke that he was awake at this hour.
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When I got to college the world changed.
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The lights went low and laser lights, mirror balls, black lights, and neon blazed.
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The principal smiled a cold smile. He didn’t like my question.
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Well, you never asked…
Your eyes filled with tears-Why didn’t you let me help?Well, you never asked.Can I come as well?I’m bouncing from foot to foot.Well, you never asked.Why don’t you join meSwinging arms, walking, skipping?Well, you never asked. Well, you never asked….is a statement about you or me. I could make it all about me, or all about…
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Longing: 2 Haiku
Longing: 1 HaikuClosing my eyes andWanting what hasn’t been gainedSmiling wistfullyLonging: 2 HaikuSpending time aloneI rub my hand o’r my heartA weight in my chest
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Thank you, Mr. Sullivan
I suppose the Appalachian tradition of giving kids weird names, Stanley Hugo, Ervin Otto, or even Oral Homer was part and parcel of growing up in the isolation of the hollers. I was the last of the kids to get a holler name before we moved out to the suburbs, I suppose.My brother got stuck…
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Report Card
My son is judging me. If he were to give me a report card it would be how long do I stay awake when I come home from school, how much time do I spend writing, how often and well do I cook for him, how clean do I keep my room, how clean do…
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Norris and the Easter Bunny
Norris heard the rustling in the living room last night before I did. Thinking the worst, he leapt out of bed, and snagged my cheek with his back claw, narrowly missing my eye. Blood poured from the gash he left. There would be a scar. Dammit Norris. While he hotfooted it to the stirring in…

