Author Archives: sputterpub

Sabbatical

Posted on August 10, 2013 by sputterpub

Today is for recovery and rest. I dedicate the daylight to my fix. I’ll hold the dying dog against my chest whose mess I rose to clean – four forty-six this morning: dire sound before the birds. She’s dreaming now … Continue reading →

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Exercise

Posted on August 9, 2013 by sputterpub

I used to be a sedentary child. My father called me vegetable, the noun both apt and mean, for though my thoughts were wild, ranging fantasies, I hunkered down inside my room, declined activities, and read and ate and dreamed … Continue reading →

Posted in Health, Poetry | Leave a comment

Ornamentia (3 of 3)

Posted on August 8, 2013 by sputterpub

Mitch has made his way to them by now, and Natalie begins to simper, at least in Phoebe’s eyes. It isn’t jealousy. Phoebe isn’t gay, and if she were she wouldn’t want Natalie. No, even though one friend tried to … Continue reading →

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Ornamentia (2 of 3)

Posted on August 7, 2013 by sputterpub

Phoebe has to return to the party. She’s some kind of co-hostess for her mateless friend. But there’s a reason she usually doesn’t give or go to parties, and it’s keeping her here for a few more minutes. She touches … Continue reading →

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Ornamentia (1 of 3)

Posted on August 6, 2013 by sputterpub

Phoebe remembers being a Camp Fire Girl. Her name there was Netopu, pronounced phonetically and translated “makes friends,” but that phrase seemed to her as untrue as the achievements for which she was awarded ugly beads. She liked it that … Continue reading →

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BFF

Posted on August 5, 2013 by sputterpub

The weight of friendship rests on me so lightly, sits so rightly on my heart, that I can carry it a hundred years. The bands we braid of self-respect delight me, hold me tight and let me start to range … Continue reading →

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Breakfast

Posted on August 3, 2013 by sputterpub

The skin is firmly smooth against my touch, the color flushed in orange red or rose. There’s no aroma I detect as such until the flavor’s cut to court my nose. The surface first resists incisive teeth – I’m hungry, … Continue reading →

Posted in Food, Poetry | Leave a comment

Surprise

Posted on August 2, 2013 by sputterpub

An errand took me outside yesterday and into perfect Thursday afternoon. Of all the folks enjoying it, I’d say that most were jobless. So it seems that soon or even now we’ll recognize two types: the inside folks who labor … Continue reading →

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Floss (Part 3 of 3)

Posted on August 1, 2013 by sputterpub

With the kids getting older and Carol not earning, I had to find a better-paying job. I fell into the extermination business for about seven years. I don’t know why I stayed in it so long; I hated it. But … Continue reading →

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Floss (Part 2 of 3)

Posted on July 31, 2013 by sputterpub

Looking back on it now, I know there’s a momentum to life that no one warned me about. Teachers and TV shows and even my parents told me not to pressure myself, that there would be plenty of time to … Continue reading →

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