My children’s bedroom doors are open. I stand in the hallway, prop a palm against the wall, try to shake free the thoughts that still flutter against my skull like moths caught inside a dying porch light, to listen for the rattle of fevered breathing between the coughs. The air carries the scent of vapo-rub […]
were the first words I heard after the huntsman’s shears flayed my belly as if he were extracting an early child. She climbed from me, slick with digestive fluid, followed by the grandmother who tumbled out, a soggy bag of bones, and curled at the foot of the bed. Something red covered my head and […]
A student taps on my classroom window startling me from marking. It is already dark outside and the persistent gloved knocking nearly knocks me off my chair. When I regain my composure enough to focus my eyes on the darkened, reflective pane, I set my pen on top of the stack and rise to see […]
I don’t teach students. I teach XBox. I teach IPod and Halo and mp3. I teach rockbands and breakdancers newbies and posers. I teach Nexopia Facebook and online bullying. I teach the narrow line between slipshod parenting and overbearing media petstrings. I teach down the aisle of a test score supermarket. I teach Jason Mraz […]
As the steak-cook at Hy’s I could grill up to fifty hunks of beef—strip loin, sirloin, tenderloin rib eye, all different sizes and degrees of doneness—at the same time, and usually feel confident about putting each one on a plate and sending it out into the dining room. Dozens of diners would watch me in […]
