Author Archives: sputterpub

Boot Straps (Continued)

So it was that when I entered kindergarten, I switched classes on the second day. I was looking for more than I found on the first day, in my assigned room. I told my mother about it and she taught … Continue reading

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Boot Straps (Start)

My parents managed to find a stupid pediatrician. Either that or they lied to me, and the mistakes were their own decisions. But they told me the enema was doctor’s advice, and they insisted that their silence before my tonsillectomy … Continue reading

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Americana

While horses are abundant in the West, nobody here has seen a unicorn. And though some Salem women once confessed to witchery, our homeland is forlorn of wizards, warlocks, covens in the night, or fairies, fauns and satyrs in the … Continue reading

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Sustenance

Tomatoes and potatoes and cocaine, dark chocolate, avocado, coffee, corn, transplanted marijuana: feed my brain and fuel my body. Flora I was born to love, the manna of my continent – celebrate with me the gifts of earth unfurled, new … Continue reading

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Sisters (Part 3 of 3)

Jane thought she was done with abnormal mouth then. She continued to brush and floss and see the dentist twice a year, but she enjoyed 20 years of strong normal-looking teeth. Then the gum disease appeared. It had to have … Continue reading

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Sisters (Part 2 of 3)

But they’re grown up now, like the rest of us, and their weird ideas have grown up too. Young Jem is an enlightened pessimist (her term). She’s been contemplating existence all her life and she has concluded that our species … Continue reading

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Sisters (Part 1 of 3)

We called them the weird sisters but that had nothing to do with destiny. If you google “weird” now you get origins in “wyrd” and references to the Greek fates and the Scottish witches, but they and we doubt it. … Continue reading

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Mimicry

Loquat leaves like rigid feathers Lie upon the old concrete. Eerie February weather Sweeps debris off every street, But here upon the old sidewalks A weight of litter holds its own. For Zephyr blew off dirt and stalks But left … Continue reading

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Bitch

I guess some days are bound to be like this. Annoyed about the number on the scale, I cast about for fuel and then the kiss I give my boy goodbye is silver pale against the heat I nurture in … Continue reading

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Feeling (3 of 3)

Instead, I brought the meeting back to order. I commented on the lateness of the hour and I reminded everyone that we had to move along. I prevented Linda from asking what she later gave me: how disabled does someone … Continue reading

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