(mac)ro(mic)

On Mother’s Day, I throw a penny in the fountain outside City Hall. I want Mother to come home.  There’s no response, just the clink of the penny, the whoosh of water, and reflections dancing. I throw a second penny. Wish for Mother to write. […]

The smell, overwhelming, and not the expected, extended their exchanged look at the seating. With only the sisters and their families this year, there was no need for an additional kid’s table. Instead adults and children alternated, parents and siblings split, cousins mixed. But counting […]

I think I’ll go for a drive to release myself from the pucker of muck in this archdiocese. No one stuck at home themselves has even looked at my website. The oven, from roasting too hard, is toast. Let us see the turtles with their […]

The narrow and demanding present straitjacketed Saniya’s body and mind.  The rush of routines and ordinary life killed days and choked reflection. As a child, Saniya knew she didn’t have to time travel to travel in time.  She dreamed of traveling in many ways.  She […]

He held the trap to the parrot’s cage. The possum hissed. Our bird recoiled; he was mauled but alive. My father got the twenty-two then, held its dark metal eye to the cage. He said a prayer, I think, in his dress shirt and tie, […]

On top of my grandma’s dresser were three heads. Even though they had no eyes, I was sure they were watching me as I played with Grandma’s jewelry and sneaked peeks into her drawers. I named them Flora, Fiona, and Frances and made up elaborate […]

“Patient presents. STATES DEPRESSION IS STABLE. NO THOUGHTS OF SELF-HARM. DOING PRETTY WELL ON [redacted]. NO SIDE EFFECTS. REALLY NOT THAT MUCH EFFICACY, HOWEVER.” That is really in my medical chart, copied here caps lock and all. It is a pretty hot take on treatment-resistant […]

Anne was turned off at the prospect of hearing Jeff’s dream, as she distrusted their surreal and preternatural qualities. She doubted they revealed the inner workings of the universe and the collective unconscious, and thought that at best they might provide fodder for artists. But […]

Made to Consume   Wherever you go, broken men follow. They love your eyes and the soft curve of your lips, the way your whole face lifts when you smile.  Barely any time passes before they lose all sense of grief. You shake loose the […]

I’m not a “school person.”  This is how I started my personal statement when applying to graduate school. Was it smart to start with that? Maybe not. Did I submit it anyway? Yes, I did. The last six days have been unusual. When I found […]

I’m playing Goldilocks to your Papa Bear when the boats rev up again. Four days they’ve been out there with the divers and the hooks that bring up nothing. Four nights I’ve been sleeping in your bed listening in while you call Mama Bear to […]

It’s really easy to forget how poetic the sea can be when you live in a city where you don’t have access to it. You had convinced yourself it’s all overrated, but the sight of it still gets you in a peaceful state you didn’t […]