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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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I left the windows on the car open when it got hot in the summer. Mom and Dad always did, so I figured I better too. The car was so hot a dog would have died if I’d have left it in there, a kid would have too, open windows or not. Our parents left…
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He was too cheap to be a companion and not expensive enough to be a decent handyman.
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“Here, have some firewood,” I told Suze before Caine could get there. “We’ll make a fire so he won’t mess with it. I hate it when men think they have to fix every fire a woman starts. It’s unnecessary and downright insulting. They just don’t get it. Dad was always bad about that, and Caine…
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Time to Tell the Bees “You’ve got to tell the bees,” said Luke. “When the beekeeper dies, someone has to tell the bees so they know someone else is coming. They were a part of her family, like the cat and dog. They’ll go crazy if you don’t tell them. It’s only polite.” “Really? Your…
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Fortnite Jeffrey was mad before he left his house. His stupid sister had stolen his iPad charger which meant that it was just about dead. Mrs. Wheeler’d make him charge it in her class instead of use it. If she were any kind of teacher at all, she’d let him use it while it charged,…
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Norris Tales, The Adventures of an Awful House Cat . I like to call Norris Tales hyperbolic nonfiction. Norris has superpowers of good and evil. Norris, the actual cat, is sixteen years old. He’s become that friend you argue with all the time. He’s demanding. He wants cream, or attention, or no attention. He doesn’t…
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Work it, Sandy. Downpours aren’t kind. Just as predicted, water soaks right through that magazine on your head. Independence means you make the choice to run from here to the door in the rain whether your mom says you can or not. You still get wet. It’s part of life’s journey. The big stuff, you…
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Holiday Head Webs I declare my independence from the tyranny of head webs, stuff that wakes me…dumb stuff. There have been a bazillion books written about incidents and accidents that leave deep wounds that still bleed. I was supposed to watch my brother at my sister’s cheerleader practice. He was two, I was ten, she…
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Mommy’s Angel
I begged for a guitar for Christmas. I got down on my knees in supplication to Mom one Saturday morn when the snow was knee deep outside, I remember. That’s all she heard that year. I did every chore she gave me with glee, on the outside at least, three quarters my best instead of… Read more
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Good King Wenceslas
“I love the way the full moon glistens on the snow when it’s deep and crisp and even like this, not a mark on it,” the good king said. It was St. Stephen’s Day, Boxing Day, the patron saint of stonemasons and bricklayers, the first martyr, stoned to death for blasphemy. He was also the… Read more
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Gilly and the Peashooters
“Gilly and the Peashooters” was first published in Appalachian Fusion, Pine Mountain Sand and Gravel, Contemporary Appalachian Writing, Vol 27 Read more
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Creation sans fear
I don’t have to practice transcendental meditation to create masterworks, maybe I do. Read more
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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…
-
I left the windows on the car open when it got hot in the summer. Mom and Dad always did, so I figured I better too. The car was so hot a dog would have died if I’d have left it in there, a kid would have too, open windows or not. Our parents left…
-
He was too cheap to be a companion and not expensive enough to be a decent handyman.
-
“Here, have some firewood,” I told Suze before Caine could get there. “We’ll make a fire so he won’t mess with it. I hate it when men think they have to fix every fire a woman starts. It’s unnecessary and downright insulting. They just don’t get it. Dad was always bad about that, and Caine…
-
Time to Tell the Bees “You’ve got to tell the bees,” said Luke. “When the beekeeper dies, someone has to tell the bees so they know someone else is coming. They were a part of her family, like the cat and dog. They’ll go crazy if you don’t tell them. It’s only polite.” “Really? Your…
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Fortnite Jeffrey was mad before he left his house. His stupid sister had stolen his iPad charger which meant that it was just about dead. Mrs. Wheeler’d make him charge it in her class instead of use it. If she were any kind of teacher at all, she’d let him use it while it charged,…
-
Norris Tales, The Adventures of an Awful House Cat . I like to call Norris Tales hyperbolic nonfiction. Norris has superpowers of good and evil. Norris, the actual cat, is sixteen years old. He’s become that friend you argue with all the time. He’s demanding. He wants cream, or attention, or no attention. He doesn’t…
-
Work it, Sandy. Downpours aren’t kind. Just as predicted, water soaks right through that magazine on your head. Independence means you make the choice to run from here to the door in the rain whether your mom says you can or not. You still get wet. It’s part of life’s journey. The big stuff, you…
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Holiday Head Webs I declare my independence from the tyranny of head webs, stuff that wakes me…dumb stuff. There have been a bazillion books written about incidents and accidents that leave deep wounds that still bleed. I was supposed to watch my brother at my sister’s cheerleader practice. He was two, I was ten, she…
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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,…
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Quiescence n. Calm, serene atmosphere
“My mind is like somebody emptied the silverware drawer on a trampoline and the boys are jumping on it,” Ruth told Janice while she scrubbed the bathroom floor. Janice was in the bathtub cleaning the walls and around the window. So much mildew, it flourished in the hot soapy steam of the shower. “I don’t…
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The Ugly Step Sister
Ella’s job was to clean the ashes, cook, and sew. Mine was to embroidery and be on the lookout for a husband. I wasn’t supposed to go near the hens and chickens, but I was supposed to sit a horse and ride with the wind in my hair. I couldn’t even climb upon the beast.…
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This Thanksgiving Dinner
I don’t care for turkey, besides, it’s heavy and hard to handle. This year, because I’m not paying two hundred dollars for beef, I’m making pork tenderloin Wellington and smoked turkey leg Wellington experiments. If they go well, I’ll do them again for Christmas. I have one boy home for Thanksgiving, so he’ll be my…
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Eutony
Eutony: n. The pleasantness of a word’s sound.Your words arethe sound of kindness.The quiet of falling leavesflutter and whirl,Orange and red ride the wind and glide to the ground.They have the shove of love behind each one.bright yellow wingedyet crimson when passed under the shade of the othereach one part of your poem.The sound you…
Devonne Brown 