athesaurus.com

…breathe deeply and often…

  • The Question of the Tractor

    “You damned idiot, you’d be late for your wedding, if you could find a damned woman who’d put up with your shit” said Cedric. He was trying so hard to be positive. He couldn’t though. He was an old man from out the creek, Clymers Creek. Paul couldn’t pour piss out of a boot. All Read more

  • A Nod to Dante

    In the middle of the journey I came to a dark wood where the straight way was lost. There was no yellow brick road circling toward an emerald city, only a crooked weed lined path with scraggly trees and tumbleweeds. None of the medication I took every morning made the day go right. Harpies to Read more

  • The Circle: A short chapter

    *The Circle “Well done! Well done!” Will stepped into the firelight, clapping. “Which one of you has the voice of an entire choir of angels? It could blow a hole through the top of the Globe. Now I will always have your voice in my head.” Rue crossed her arms and bent her head to Read more

  • Real Job?

    My first real job couldn’t have been when I was a waitress or a bartender. They were menial, physical, fast, and required a lot of memory. It was fun to be fast on my feet and fast in my head and hands. Those jobs required social skills and smiles, and knowing how to handle a Read more

  • I heard someone say

    I yawned and my coffee kicked in.  Read more

  • In the Museum

    It wasn’t the wonders on the museum wall that captured my attention, although there were plenty to see. I felt a pang of shame about it too. I was properly enthralled and humbled by Picasso’s blue period, Monet’s waters, and VanGogh’s wonder year. I knew sacred ground when I was on it. The rarified air Read more

  • 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…

  • 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

  • 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…

  • 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…

  • 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…