tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27604070356062473332024-03-12T18:32:54.659-07:00Away From the SprawlA book in process featuring poems by Clare Welsh and photography by Shelby Ursu.Clare Welshhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00642082309473241915noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2760407035606247333.post-89467021374049860752012-04-13T10:24:00.022-07:002012-04-13T13:27:48.982-07:00Coyote Rain<img src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-udFjzrPPLqA/T4hodoTX65I/AAAAAAAADNc/Oh3sZNXm740/s400/401074_3291638726667_1138726361_33508293_143141567_n.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5730945384073128850" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 266px; height: 400px; " /><img src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-bRBKEpjfvyE/T4hodaPGidI/AAAAAAAADNQ/bUPb30YaxYU/s400/424426_3291567684891_1138726361_33508190_1620053765_n.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5730945380297116114" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 266px; height: 400px; " /><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new';font-size:100%;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new';font-size:100%;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 32px; "><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal"><span style="Times New Roman"font-family:'courier new';font-size:100%;">I.</span></b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new';font-size:100%;"><b><br /></b></span></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in;line-height:200%"><span style="Times New Roman"font-family:'courier new';font-size:100%;">At one point I began a painting.<span> </span>This is always a mistake, especially if you’re the type to keep your window open when it rains.<span> </span>The power plant above our town pumped orange clouds into the sky. The odor was perfume but it was also the gasoline in my dad’s motorcycle.<span> </span>Except it wasn’t either of these things.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in;line-height:200%"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: normal; font-family:'courier new';font-size:100%;">Mostly the smell reminded me of squished-up animals.<span style="line-height: 32px; "> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 32px;">Our house was a block from the railroad tracks.</span><span style="line-height: 32px; "> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 32px;">Walking along them at night, I came across the bodies of deer or rabbits, fur pressed into lumpy carpets. </span><span style="line-height: 32px; "> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 32px;">The streetlights were rusty, and somehow the train was rusty too, a long, disintegrating trumpet.</span><span style="line-height: 32px; "> </span><span style="line-height: 32px; "> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 32px;">The train didn’t keep me awake:</span><span style="line-height: 32px; "> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 32px;">It made me bored.</span><span style="line-height: 32px; "> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 32px;">I acquired a taste for coffee. I bought a lot of records and started painting.</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in;line-height:200%"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new';font-size:100%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;">My room—my studio, my <i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">Factory </i>was a patchwork of clichés: Audrey Hepburn, Jimi Hendrix, The Beatles.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>There were, of course, those icons reserved exclusively for children whose parents read <i>The New Yorker</i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">:</i> Atticus Finch and Banksy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>There were ticket stubs, Playbills (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">The Glass Menagerie, The Wizard of Oz)</i>, pictures of outer space and skies so big my eyes brimmed looking at them. The color blue excited and terrified me. </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;">My hands were restless.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>I stole paint samples from Wal-Mart based not on color but on name:</span></span></p><div><div><div><div><div><div></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in;line-height:200%"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal"><span style="Times New Roman"font-family:'courier new';font-size:100%;">Michigan Motown Blues</span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in;line-height:200%"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal"><span style="Times New Roman"font-family:'courier new';font-size:100%;">Cosmic Dust</span></i></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in;line-height:200%"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal"><span style="Times New Roman"font-family:'courier new';font-size:100%;">Leisure</span></i></p></div><div><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in;line-height:200%"><span style="Times New Roman"font-family:'courier new';font-size:100%;">With these taped to my wall, I began my painting.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>It was not my first.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>I had just decided on a subject when I got a call from Derek.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in;line-height:200%"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: normal; font-family:'courier new';font-size:100%;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre; "> </span>“Model for me?” Derek was my photographer/ friend.<span style="line-height: 32px; "> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 32px;">Whenever he wanted to build his portfolio, which was often, he asked me to model.</span><span style="line-height: 32px; "> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 32px;">Sometimes I held props, knives or dolls or books by J.D. Salinger.</span><span style="line-height: 32px; "> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 32px;">I got free prints of the photographs.</span><span style="line-height: 32px; "> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 32px;">These I taped to my wall between Audrey Hepburn and the Playbills.</span><span style="line-height: 32px; "> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 32px;">I was a narcissist.</span></span></p></div><div><div></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in;line-height:200%"><span style="Times New Roman"font-family:'courier new';font-size:100%;">“Can we do lines?”</span></p><div style="text-align: center; "><div style="text-align: center; "><div></div></div></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:10.0pt;text-indent:.5in;line-height: 200%;mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><span style="font-family:'courier new';font-size:100%;">Cocaine makes living in the suburbs really cool.<span> </span>It’s an effective way to do nothing at high speed.<span> </span>I haven’t done it in ages.<span> </span>Living in the city, I never felt the need.<span> </span>Time passed quickly enough, a whirly-gig of faces.<span> </span>Everyone’s face was a thousand years.<span> </span>I learned more in conversation on long, hooded-sweatshirt walks than I did in four years of high school.</span></p><div></div></div><div><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in;line-height:200%"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new';font-size:100%;"><span style="Times New Roman"">I want to pull the girl who was me out of her<i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal"> </i>bedroom and take her for a walk. </span><span>“In this town, even time takes drugs to make itself go faster.” </span><span style="Times New Roman"">We’d walk all the way across the Atlantic---myself and I---to the bathroom stall in Heathrow Airport where I just read this graffiti:</span></span></p><div style="text-align: center; "></div><div><div></div></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;line-height: 200%; "><i><span style="font-family:'courier new';font-size:100%;">IT IS NO MEASURE OF HEALTH TO BE WELL ADJUSTED TO A SICK SOCIETY<o:p></o:p></span></i></p><div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><div><div></div></div></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;margin-bottom: 10pt; text-indent: 0.5in; line-height: 200%; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:'courier new';">Reading the graffiti makes me feel better and worse at the same time.</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;margin-bottom: 10pt; text-indent: 0.5in; line-height: 200%; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:'courier new';font-size:100%;">I want to tell the girl putting down the paintbrush “life is about felling better and worse at the same time.”</span></p><div><img src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-0HwGvTHEHX4/T4hqwVUspXI/AAAAAAAADOA/EP8goLNTf4I/s400/428314_3335184335280_1138726361_33525628_455610576_n.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5730947904419177842" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px; " /><img src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-nmkyAuA0iYE/T4hqwAkOdoI/AAAAAAAADN0/73pi0rKYTGk/s400/417430_3277936704125_1138726361_33502370_245186464_n.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5730947898847164034" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px; " /><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new';font-size:100%;"><b><br /></b></span></div></div><div style="text-align: center; line-height: normal; font-family:Georgia, serif;font-size:16px;"><div style="text-align: center; "><div style="text-align: center; "><div style="text-align: center; "><div><span style="font-family:'courier new';font-size:100%;"><b><div></div></b></span></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in; line-height: 32px; "><span style="font-family:'courier new';font-size:100%;"><b><o:p></o:p></b></span></p></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in; line-height: 32px; "><span style="font-family:'courier new';font-size:100%;"><i><b><o:p></o:p></b></i></span></p></div><div></div><div></div></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 32px; "><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:'courier new';font-size:100%;"><b><o:p></o:p></b></span></span></p></div><div style="line-height: normal; "></div><p></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:10.0pt;text-indent:.5in;line-height: 200%;mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><span style="font-family:'courier new';font-size:100%;"><o:p><b> </b></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:10.0pt;text-indent:.5in;mso-pagination: none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-Helvetica Neue"; font-family:'courier new';font-size:100%;"><o:p><b> </b></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;margin-bottom: 10pt; text-indent: 0.5in; line-height: 200%; "><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal"><span style="font-family:'courier new';font-size:100%;">II.<o:p></o:p></span></b></p><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new';font-size:100%;"><b><br /></b></span></div> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:10.0pt;text-indent:.5in;line-height: 200%;mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><span style="font-family:'courier new';font-size:100%;">I don’t want a Time Machine. I couldn’t handle the Butterfly Effect.<span> </span>I read that when a butterfly flutters its wings in one part of the world, it starts a hurricane in another. Kids who stay awake listening to train track eulogies are butterflies.<span> </span>Only the hurricanes caused by their fluttering hands don’t start in China or London.<span> </span>They start inside their bedrooms, their own spacious heads.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:10.0pt;text-indent:.5in;line-height: 200%;mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:'courier new';font-size:100%;">It snowed today, a fickle April affair everyone blames on the power plant.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>My dad’s motorcycle is a pile of handsome guts in our basement.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>I don’t know why he took it apart.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>I have a feeling he was looking for something sweet at the center.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Coming home, I found my dad exactly how I left him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>He does not look older. He is timeless as a mall Santa, or Walt Whitman.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:10.0pt;text-indent:.5in;line-height: 200%;mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:'courier new';font-size:100%;">I can’t believe it’s morning.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>My room stinks of milk, half-finished cups of coffee.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>I can’t drink it black, so load up on milk and sugar. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>This is a really nifty way of making something bitter into something sweet.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:10.0pt;text-indent:.5in;line-height: 200%;mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:'courier new';font-size:100%;">I thought of pouring coffee over the painting I didn’t finish.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>The cream and sugar would make the canvas smell sticky and sweet like semen.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>There was a time I thought all art was masturbation.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:10.0pt;text-indent:.5in;line-height: 200%;mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:'courier new';font-size:100%;">There was also a time I thought a malevolent race of gnomes lived under my floorboards.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>This was before I got so bored I put white stuff up my nose to make myself go faster.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>The gnomes had a radar system, so I had to run to the toilet, and gently too, so my footsteps wouldn’t set off the radar.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>My terror of the gnomes was very real.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>If they caught me, the floor would open up. I would fall into the gnome kingdom, be put in a cage, and be forced to participate in scientific experiments.</span></p></div><div><div></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:10.0pt;text-indent:.5in;line-height: 200%;mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><span style="font-family:'courier new';font-size:100%;">I used to look out my window and wonder how many of the stars were planets in disguise.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Derek and I used to argue about music and then make out while my parents were downstairs, which was the sexiest thing in the universe.</span></p><div></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in;line-height:200%"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new';font-size:100%;"><span>When I think of the girl I was losing her virginity to someone else, I want to play her a Johnny Cash song I like that is a cover of a Nine Inch Nails Song she likes.</span><span style="Times New Roman""><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>I want to point to a picture of outer space.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>I want to say, “It’s nothing special, except when it is.”</span></span></p><div></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in;line-height:200%"><span style="Times New Roman"font-family:'courier new';font-size:100%;">The walls of my room have not changed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>There are so many pictures of famous people you can hardly see the white paint underneath.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Blank space terrifies me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>I wish it didn’t.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>I wish I were terrified of gnomes instead.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in;line-height:200%"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:'courier new';font-size:100%;">The Newspaper on my desk says something about a new car dealership on route 422.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>It says I can get two Big Macs for the price of one. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in; line-height: 32px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new';font-size:100%;">Here’s a secret: Love doesn’t exist.<span> </span>Space exists.<span> </span>What we fill it with is up to us.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in; line-height: 32px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new';font-size:100%;">I read the opinion section of the Newspaper.<span> </span>The Conservative Party says I should fill my space with hatred for women who use birth control.<span> </span>The Liberal Party says I should fill my space with hatred for The Conservative Party.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in;line-height:200%"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:'courier new';font-size:100%;">Too bad I already filled my space with the album cover for Bob Dylan’s <i>Freewheelin’.</i><span> </span>It’s still there, a big fat billboard lit up in neon.<span> </span>When I think of love, I think of two people walking down a street alone.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in;line-height:200%"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:'courier new';font-size:100%;">Taking apart his motorcycle piece by piece, hands slippery with grease, I wonder if my dad was looking for something to fill his space, an image he could light up inside him and keep warm.</span></p><div><div style="text-align: center; "><img src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-i3vUItySacc/T4hn5NtVLDI/AAAAAAAADNA/4UNLDgQOfR8/s400/395515_3404096298036_1138726361_33560584_277820957_n.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5730944758458952754" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px; " /><img src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-JfEtt0Pmn6U/T4hswsH7bHI/AAAAAAAADOM/N8dgDiBZQyk/s400/417992_3465163584680_1138726361_33587580_1369830323_n.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5730950109562891378" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px; " /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new';font-size:100%;"><b><br /></b></span></div></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new';font-size:100%;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div><div><div><div><div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 32px; font-family:'courier new';font-size:100%;"><b>III.</b></span></div></div></div></div></div></div> <p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:200%"><span style="Times New Roman"font-family:'courier new';font-size:100%;"><o:p><b> </b></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:200%"><span style="Times New Roman"font-family:'courier new';font-size:100%;"><b><span style="mso-tab-count:1"></span></b><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="font-weight: bold; white-space: pre; "> </span>Now I am going to stare very hard at the painting I didn’t finish.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:200%"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:'courier new';font-size:100%;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>The palette is not uniform.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>The background is pearly sea foam, mist melting into blue dark.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>The reflection on the jacket is excruciatingly precise, and is so bright the paint literally rises up from the canvas.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>The flowers in the hat are chalk outlines.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>I want them to be red, though I think the picture I was painting from was black and white.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:200%"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:'courier new';font-size:100%;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>The shadows under the eyes are dirty. The eyes are dirty too.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>And the hair.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>The face could be that of a miner blinking as he emerges into the night—he’s been working all day, and his skin is dusty except for where sweat streaked it clean. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>His lips are too shiny.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>One of his eyebrows is higher than the other.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>He has one purple nostril and one yellow nostril.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>It is difficult to tell his race or ethnicity.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:200%"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:'courier new';font-size:100%;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre; "> </span>The painting is a portrait of Bob Dylan.</span></p></div><div><img src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-0Vck9EHsbhc/T4hwTJp9BxI/AAAAAAAADOY/-L-1hwTYfCk/s400/285443_2325313529141_1138726361_32894402_386494_n.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5730954000140666642" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 239px; " /><img src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-4zJDOxGdHow/T4hwTtq_sAI/AAAAAAAADOk/fveRLyuTiiY/s400/coyote.png" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5730954009808711682" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 363px; " /><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:200%"><b><span style="Times New Roman"font-family:'courier new';font-size:100%;"></span></b></p><div style="text-align: center; line-height: normal; font-size:16px;"><span style="Times New Roman"font-family:'courier new';font-size:100%;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div style="line-height: normal; "></div><p></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:200%"><span style="Times New Roman"font-family:'courier new';font-size:100%;"><o:p><b> </b></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:200%"><span style="Times New Roman"font-family:'courier new';font-size:100%;"><o:p><b> </b></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:200%"><span style="Times New Roman"font-family:'courier new';font-size:100%;"><o:p><b> </b></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:200%"><span style="Times New Roman"font-family:'courier new';font-size:100%;"><o:p><b> </b></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:200%"><span style="Times New Roman"font-family:'courier new';font-size:100%;"><o:p><b> </b></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:200%"><span style="Times New Roman"font-family:'courier new';font-size:100%;"><o:p><b> </b></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;line-height: 200%; "><span style="Times New Roman"font-family:'courier new';font-size:100%;"><b>IV. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span><o:p></o:p></b></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:200%"><span style="Times New Roman"font-family:'courier new';font-size:100%;"><b><span style="mso-tab-count:1"></span></b><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="font-weight: bold; white-space: pre; "> </span>A long time ago, my dad bought me a stuffed coyote from an Indian in Nevada.<span> </span>The coyote smells like skin and has yellow eyes. <span> </span>I take it with me everywhere, even to the city.<span> </span>Men have come to my apartment after a few drinks and, unnerved—the coyote has a bird skull necklace—have turned around and left.<span> </span>“Sorry, but I carry this thing with me everywhere,” I tell them.<span> </span>“Sometimes I carry it right behind my face.”<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:200%"><span style="Times New Roman"font-family:'courier new';font-size:100%;"><span style="mso-tab-count:1"></span><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>I don’t know what I talk about when I talk to beautiful men.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>They smell too good.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Once, I told a beautiful man about the painting in my bedroom:<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:200%"><span style="Times New Roman"font-family:'courier new';font-size:100%;"><span style="mso-tab-count:1"></span><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>“If I could just finish it, I think I would know everything.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>I’d be smarter than my dad.”<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:200%"><span style="Times New Roman"font-family:'courier new';font-size:100%;"><span style="mso-tab-count:1"></span><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>“Why would you want to be?” said the beautiful man.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>I think he was a socialist.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:200%"><span style="Times New Roman"font-family:'courier new';font-size:100%;"><span style="mso-tab-count:1"></span><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>When you go to writing school, they say you can write about anything you want so long as you avoid these words: <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in;line-height:200%"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal"><span style="Times New Roman"font-family:'courier new';font-size:100%;">Very<o:p></o:p></span></i></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in;line-height:200%"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal"><span style="Times New Roman"font-family:'courier new';font-size:100%;">Damn<o:p></o:p></span></i></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in;line-height:200%"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal"><span style="Times New Roman"font-family:'courier new';font-size:100%;">Infinite<o:p></o:p></span></i></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in;line-height:200%"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new';font-size:100%;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal"><span style="Times New Roman"">Very </span></i><span style="Times New Roman"">is avoided because Ernst Hemingway was allergic to the word.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Profanity, they say, obstructs meaning, so you better cut the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">damns</i> as well.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">Infinite</i> is a word for teenagers, or people who never leave their bedrooms.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in;line-height:200%"><span style="Times New Roman"font-family:'courier new';font-size:100%;">The beautiful man’s question left a very damn infinite echo in my brain.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in;line-height:200%"><span style="Times New Roman"font-family:'courier new';font-size:100%;">“What are you doing?” my dad walks into by bedroom.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in;line-height:200%"><span style="Times New Roman"font-family:'courier new';font-size:100%;">I stick my head out the window.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>“Trying to tell which stars are planets and which are stars.” Clearly.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in;line-height:200%"><span style="Times New Roman"font-family:'courier new';font-size:100%;">My dad tells me <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal">that</i> star is Mars and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">that </i>star is Venus.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in;line-height:200%"><span style="Times New Roman"font-family:'courier new';font-size:100%;">“What about Jupiter?” I say, being tricky.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in;line-height:200%"><span style="Times New Roman"font-family:'courier new';font-size:100%;">He points to a small star I would never have guessed.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in;line-height:200%"><span style="Times New Roman"font-family:'courier new';font-size:100%;">Damn.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in;line-height:200%"><span style="Times New Roman"font-family:'courier new';font-size:100%;">I used to think that if I can’t be smarter than my dad, I could at least be cooler than him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>This was when I still thought being an artist was about masturbating and always looking busy.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in;line-height:200%"><span style="Times New Roman"font-family:'courier new';font-size:100%;">“Did you really get my coyote on a motorcycle trip?” I wanted to know how much of my dad was bedtime story mythos.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in;line-height:200%"><span style="Times New Roman"font-family:'courier new';font-size:100%;">“It was the trip Hunter S. Thompson invited us to his ranch.”<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in;line-height:200%"><span style="Times New Roman"font-family:'courier new';font-size:100%;">“You <i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">knew </i>him?”<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in;line-height:200%"><span style="Times New Roman"font-family:'courier new';font-size:100%;">“We corresponded.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>He showed me the letters.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in;line-height:200%"><span style="Times New Roman"font-family:'courier new';font-size:100%;">Damn damn damn.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in;line-height:200%"><span style="Times New Roman"font-family:'courier new';font-size:100%;">The coyote on my bed is vibrating.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>I pick it up and answer the cell phone underneath.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in;line-height:200%"><span style="Times New Roman"font-family:'courier new';font-size:100%;">“Model for me?” It’s Derek.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>I only have one photographer/friend.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in;line-height:200%"><span style="Times New Roman"font-family:'courier new';font-size:100%;">I don’t feel like it though.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>“I think I’ll just watch movies tonight.” <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in;line-height:200%"><span style="Times New Roman"font-family:'courier new';font-size:100%;">“Watch <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal">LeFooohhhhhheeey,” </i>He says a French movie whose title I don’t recognize.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>“Watch <i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">LeFooohhheyy</i> so we can talk about it.”</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in;line-height:200%"><span style="Times New Roman"font-family:'courier new';font-size:100%;">But I don’t want to watch a movie, not unless I can watch it in the sky.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Then everyone could watch—or at least everyone in my time zone.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>It would be something groovy we could all together.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>We would sit on our rooftops and wonder which actors were planets and which were stars.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in;line-height:200%"><span style="Times New Roman"font-family:'courier new';font-size:100%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>I decide I will be smarter and cooler than my dad only after I invent a projector that plays movies on the sky.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in;line-height:200%"><span style="Times New Roman"font-family:'courier new';font-size:100%;">It’s been ages since I’ve carried the coyote around in public, but decide to take it with me on my walk.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Everyone in the town goes to bed at 9:30, so I’m not worried about bumping into people.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>I’m putting on my old boots when my dad comes home.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in;line-height:200%"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new';font-size:100%;"><span style="Times New Roman""><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"></span>He looks at the coyote.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>He takes my face in his hands. </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;">“And what’ll you do now, my darling young one?”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>He smiles.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>He has two missing teeth and two teeth that are capped with gold.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Then he goes to his study and shuts the door.</span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in;line-height:200%"><span style="Times New Roman"font-family:'courier new';font-size:100%;">I sit on the floor.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in;line-height:200%"><span style="Times New Roman"font-family:'courier new';font-size:100%;">I wipe motorcycle grease from my cheeks.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in;line-height:200%"><span style="Times New Roman"font-family:'courier new';font-size:100%;">I get up.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in;line-height:200%"><span style="Times New Roman"font-family:'courier new';font-size:100%;">The coyote’s tail drags as I walk back up the stairs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>I look at my bedroom.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>I used to have nightmares of my mother coming in and tearing the pictures from the walls.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in;line-height:200%"><span style="Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new';font-size:100%;">My window is open.<span> </span>I smell the coyote, the train and acid rain, and wonder where I’ve heard those words before.</span><o:p></o:p></span></p> <!--EndFragment--></div></div></div></div></div>Clare Welshhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00642082309473241915noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2760407035606247333.post-73379701556151058872011-09-11T23:50:00.000-07:002011-12-16T08:44:26.856-08:00Looking Back<div align="center"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 377px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 307px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5651479764344544674" border="0" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-g96XF8g7T90/Tm4W5yEQnaI/AAAAAAAABYA/2-J2kBVyCZs/s400/0x550_1309150276.jpg" /><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-family:courier new;">I.<br /></span><br /><span style="font-family:courier new;">A TV viewed<br />through a closed window</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:courier new;">and the sound of roots lifting.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:courier new;">II.<br /><br />Grow, grow, grow! Turn your roots </span><br /><span style="font-family:courier new;">upside-down and suck the sky </span><br /><span style="font-family:courier new;"><br /><br />from the glass. Then, break it.</span><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 349px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 273px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5686763886348535490" border="0" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-4f_V_J6SC_8/Tutxn_dTBsI/AAAAAAAAB9E/iW0ENvSn_Z8/s400/bone%2Btree.jpg" /><span style="font-family:courier new;"><br /><br /></span><span style="font-family:courier new;">III.</span><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-family:courier new;">My boots are two horse heads<br />singing for their spines, bone trees</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:courier new;">above the pay phone </span><br /><span style="font-family:courier new;">where we meet. An orange hangs</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:courier new;">from the branches. You peel the rind</span><br /><span style="font-family:courier new;">with your teeth, telling me to hold</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:courier new;">out my hand not for the fruit</span><br /><span style="font-family:courier new;">but for three seeds that you fold<br /></span><br /><span style="font-family:courier new;">in my palm. Two are for the horses.</span><br /><span style="font-family:courier new;">The last, you say, is for you.</span><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-family:courier new;">IV.</span><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-family:courier new;">And was it worth it, you ask,<br />the leaving? Was it worth</span><br /><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-family:courier new;"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 447px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 259px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5686760699813491858" border="0" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-fVYaBFwPrnA/TutuugsI9JI/AAAAAAAAB8g/Z5Dpg4keSyk/s400/houses.jpg" /></span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:courier new;">the view of Sunset Acres when,</span><br /><span style="font-family:courier new;">looking back, you thought you heard<br /></span><br /><span style="font-family:courier new;">the clomp of earth on boxes?</span><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 372px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 262px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5686763885547722338" border="0" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-SxrG6V-fuq0/Tutxn8eXlmI/AAAAAAAAB9M/UvDhxTiCIkE/s400/blank.jpg" /><br /><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 380px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 272px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5686760706080340066" border="0" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-KWwOCORppV0/Tutuu4CReGI/AAAAAAAAB8w/_9j-t2cwAwk/s400/tombstones.jpg" /><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-family:courier new;">V.</span><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-family:courier new;">Here, </span><br /><span style="font-family:courier new;">real sugar. Here, </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:courier new;">a cafe empty</span><br /><span style="font-family:courier new;">but for our clinking spoons<br />and your forest, the city ripe<br />with fruit. Pouring banana milk</span><br /><span style="font-family:courier new;">in our coffee, we remember</span><br /><span style="font-family:courier new;">deserts, white mountain </span><br /><span style="font-family:courier new;">air conditioning. A boom box clings</span><br /><span style="font-family:courier new;">to a passing car. Here, </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:courier new;">open windows--</span><br /><span style="font-family:courier new;">a breeze like hot radio.</span><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 266px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 400px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5651363367118580450" border="0" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Ius8bwYtQzA/Tm2tCknCKuI/AAAAAAAABX4/enX6_insfRM/s400/198008_1931821532087_1138726361_32406880_7937941_n.jpg" /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /></div>Clare Welshhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00642082309473241915noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2760407035606247333.post-8422044261072526462011-09-04T12:22:00.000-07:002011-12-16T07:55:35.629-08:00What You (should know)<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-NbA41oDSvvU/TmakcC2DnFI/AAAAAAAABWQ/39aAZmMFi3w/s1600/156215_1738235172549_1138726361_32025277_4389567_n.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 266px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5649383584289758290" border="0" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-NbA41oDSvvU/TmakcC2DnFI/AAAAAAAABWQ/39aAZmMFi3w/s400/156215_1738235172549_1138726361_32025277_4389567_n.jpg" /></a><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 336px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5649383581353241506" border="0" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-PnUXNE5mlFM/Tmakb35766I/AAAAAAAABWA/J1tn2rzfk2k/s400/58962_1625834482602_1138726361_31806447_6536835_n.jpg" /><br /><br /><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center"><br /></div><br /><br /><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center" align="left"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new';">When I get there the kids are smoking (I don’t</span></div><br /><br /><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new';"></span></div><br /><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new';">inhale). </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Two hits before they’re talking like you</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></div><br /><br /><p class="MsoNormal"><?xml:namespace prefix = o /><o:p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"></span></span></o:p></p><br /><br /><p style="TEXT-ALIGN: center" class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">when you were sober (I’m reading your book </span></span></p><br /><p style="TEXT-ALIGN: center" class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">about New York horses that dream</span></span><br /></p><br /><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"></span></span></o:p></p><br /><br /><p style="TEXT-ALIGN: center" class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">of flying from their carousel). Later the cops nail</span></span></p><br /><p style="TEXT-ALIGN: center" class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">our eyes for being too open (My veins burst like weeds</span></span></p><br /><p style="TEXT-ALIGN: center" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Courier New;"></span><br /></p><br /><p style="TEXT-ALIGN: center" class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">around the handcuffs). The officer takes</span></span></p><br /><p style="TEXT-ALIGN: center" class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">our names, feeds us bologna</span></span></p><br /><br /><p style="TEXT-ALIGN: center" class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">sandwiches(I will always smell</span></span><br /></p><br /><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"></span></span></o:p></p><br /><p style="TEXT-ALIGN: center" class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">horse meat). When I come back </span></span></p><br /><br /><p style="TEXT-ALIGN: center" class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">our mom’s taking pills-—or is it candy?</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new';"><br /></span></p><br /><br /><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"></span></span></o:p></p><br /><br /><p style="TEXT-ALIGN: center" class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">(I never ended a sentence</span></span></p><br /><br /><p style="TEXT-ALIGN: center" class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">with a question mark) My pupils fall on the table, twin marbles</span></span></p><br /><br /><p style="TEXT-ALIGN: center" class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></p><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 326px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5648592421913791250" border="0" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-GBIkuiubGoU/TmPU4VUiixI/AAAAAAAABUs/hH-JufvqJFA/s400/310744_2381204326376_1138726361_32974098_7672266_n.jpg" /><br /><br /><p style="TEXT-ALIGN: center" class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></p><br /><br /><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"></span></span></o:p></p><br /><br /><p style="TEXT-ALIGN: center" class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">she swallows whole ( I’m afraid of leaving her</span></span></p><br /><p style="TEXT-ALIGN: center" class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">with empty boxes). I can’t sleep</span></span></p><br /><p style="TEXT-ALIGN: center" class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new';"><br /></span></p><br /><br /><p style="TEXT-ALIGN: center" class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new';">because one eye won’t close. Sand blows</span></p><br /><p style="TEXT-ALIGN: center" class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">in our bedroom. Your forest grows in a distant phone booth.</span></span></p><br /><br /><p style="TEXT-ALIGN: center" class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></p><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 321px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 400px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5649383586838685682" border="0" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-zQWFYckiQmk/TmakcMVxJ_I/AAAAAAAABWI/Jw6XQ3bL9j4/s400/61585_1623789351475_1138726361_31800590_1405882_n.jpg" /><br /><br /><p style="TEXT-ALIGN: center" class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new';">At the station they offered me</span></p><br /><p style="TEXT-ALIGN: center" class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">one call (you should know it was you).</span></span></p><br /><br /><p style="TEXT-ALIGN: center" class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></p><br /><br /><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 300px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 400px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5648603042020591650" border="0" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-bozzQxIpuR8/TmPeigTUCCI/AAAAAAAABU0/Gu8Z4gzzP88/s400/300168_2381206326426_1138726361_32974105_3769834_n.jpg" /></div><br /><br /><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>Clare Welshhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00642082309473241915noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2760407035606247333.post-57043500362840449912011-09-04T11:52:00.000-07:002011-10-04T16:52:30.151-07:00Our Dad's Army Jacket<div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:'courier new';"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:'courier new';">falls from your kid shoulders. He says he was a correspondent,</span></div> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new';"> which means writer, which means</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new';"><br /></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new';"> </span></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new';">he didn’t fight. His advice:</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new';">“Words are weapons, arm yourselves”, so you read</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:'courier new';">the names of tress (now streets) as I read the stitches</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new';">unraveling the patch of his name, a ghost</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:'courier new';">with phantom limbs so heavy they sink</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new';">in the ocean lapping </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:'courier new';">our front door. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:'courier new';">Later the water spits </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:'courier new';">his jacket </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'courier new'; ">on the sidewalk, </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'courier new'; "><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'courier new'; ">one long thread </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'courier new'; ">that you stretch over your bones</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new';">in a limping hug , arming yourself.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new';"><br /></span></p><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 265px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-waWJLLFlHfY/TmPM2u69h5I/AAAAAAAABUc/WlGisOUFPIU/s400/297351_2381169685510_1138726361_32973999_5267035_n.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5648583598333069202" /> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:.5in;text-indent:.5in"><o:p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new';"> </span></o:p></p> <!--EndFragment-->Clare Welshhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00642082309473241915noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2760407035606247333.post-56448604037463095772011-08-22T14:17:00.000-07:002011-12-16T07:32:35.081-08:00Plastic Horses<div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 266px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 400px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5644553354061984162" border="0" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-So-g8O4b74w/TlV7XpCasaI/AAAAAAAABSU/QPXgQx0ZBZ0/s400/sprawl%2B25.jpg" /></div><!--StartFragment--><br /><br /><p style="mso-pagination: none; mso-layout-grid-align: none" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Georgia;"><?xml:namespace prefix = o /><o:p></o:p></span></p><br /><p align="center"><span style="font-family:courier new;">Your room is a forest, roots<br />clutching dirt the way our mom must have clutched<br /><br />the table cloth when you took her car. I was combing<br />plastic horses and thinking how, like a horse,<br /><br />or some gypsy women, you never stopped<br />moving. That night you called<br /><br />from a pay phone in a city<br />that still had pay phones. I imagined you shivering<br /><br />in our dad's army jacket. There was rain<br />of course, an orange streetlight thumping<br /><br />in your mouth when you told me to get out<br />after high school, a white hallway<br /><br />that in 1998 only existed on TV. A leaf unfurled<br />in my throat, and I knew I wouldn't see you<br /><br />until the seed you planted shot out<br />my ears, a tree with leaves red<br /><br />as tongues. Our mom hooked<br />the phone, and I lost you to a field<br /><br />of plastic horses, cold<br />but for manes of your chopped hair.<br /></span><br /><br /></p><br /><p style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; mso-pagination: none; mso-layout-grid-align: none" class="MsoNormal" align="center"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new';"><!--StartFragment--></span></p><span style="font-family:Courier New;"></span><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span>Clare Welshhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00642082309473241915noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2760407035606247333.post-6438601631131122342011-08-21T10:25:00.000-07:002011-08-21T15:00:48.787-07:00When Our Mom Put the Cereal in Tupperware<img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Cz8hu4vi4sw/TlF-E7lHbiI/AAAAAAAABRE/kf4F1LbXn44/s400/sprawl%2B21.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5643430431249886754" /><div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 214px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-nht_gWca_T0/TlF_7MYJq5I/AAAAAAAABRc/ccqodEXrdgU/s400/Picture%2B1.png" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5643432462983474066" /><div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-KjjpENXuXhg/TlF-E7KkohI/AAAAAAAABRM/az7bbuDxaAk/s400/sprawl%2B24.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5643430431138554386" /><!--StartFragment--> <!--StartFragment--> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'Courier New';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">
<br /></span></span></p> <!--EndFragment--> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:'Courier New';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="Courier New"font-family:";"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="Courier New"font-family:";"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:'Courier New';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span></span></p> <!--EndFragment--> Clare Welshhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00642082309473241915noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2760407035606247333.post-79582814409936074582011-08-18T19:12:00.000-07:002011-12-16T07:33:57.439-08:00The Nail<img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 266px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5642387852172534690" border="0" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-gHa6ZNUAI20/Tk3J2125I6I/AAAAAAAABQU/O1RvueqaR0w/s400/sprawl%2B16.jpg" /><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 266px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5642387860245197266" border="0" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-RXyIrtCPdDQ/Tk3J3T7kMdI/AAAAAAAABQk/z7QVwe7rvIQ/s400/sprawl%2B18.jpg" /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-382ACPDKeBg/Tk3LclSlrdI/AAAAAAAABQ0/ZtpmdvPkZBc/s1600/sprawl%2B20.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 266px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5642389600071953874" border="0" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-382ACPDKeBg/Tk3LclSlrdI/AAAAAAAABQ0/ZtpmdvPkZBc/s400/sprawl%2B20.jpg" /></a><br /><br /><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center"><br /></div><br /><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center"><br /></div><br /><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new';">1.</span></div><br /><p style="TEXT-ALIGN: center" class="MsoNormal" align="center"><?xml:namespace prefix = o /><o:p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new';"></span></o:p></p><br /><p style="TEXT-ALIGN: center" class="MsoNormal" align="center"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new';">Hammering the roof of our barn, </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new';">our grandfather smoked</span></p><br /><p style="TEXT-ALIGN: center" class="MsoNormal" align="center"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new';">the sun in buttery rolls: </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new';">“I know a gypsy who made soup</span></p><br /><p style="TEXT-ALIGN: center" class="MsoNormal" align="center"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new';">from a single nail.”</span></p><br /><p style="TEXT-ALIGN: center" class="MsoNormal" align="center"><o:p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new';"></span></o:p></p><br /><p style="TEXT-ALIGN: center" class="MsoNormal" align="center"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new';"><br /></span></p><br /><p style="TEXT-ALIGN: center" class="MsoNormal" align="center"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new';">2.</span></p><br /><p style="TEXT-ALIGN: center" class="MsoNormal" align="center"><o:p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new';"></span></o:p></p><br /><p style="TEXT-ALIGN: center" class="MsoNormal" align="center"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new';">The red barn became a white house that became a lane</span></p><br /><p style="TEXT-ALIGN: center" class="MsoNormal" align="center"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new';">of shrinking boxes. Nails hum i</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new';">n the boxes. Our mom pours</span></p><br /><p style="TEXT-ALIGN: center" class="MsoNormal" align="center"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new';">the nails into bowls too hot to swallow</span></p><br /><p style="TEXT-ALIGN: center" class="MsoNormal" align="center"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new';"><br /></span></p><br /><p style="TEXT-ALIGN: center" class="MsoNormal" align="center"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new';">though you’re getting better. Your smile </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new';">is a dead filly:</span></p><br /><p style="TEXT-ALIGN: center" class="MsoNormal" align="center"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new';">“It just takes practice.”</span></p><br /><p style="TEXT-ALIGN: center" class="MsoNormal" align="center"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new';"><br /></span></p><br /><p style="TEXT-ALIGN: center" class="MsoNormal" align="center"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new';">3.</span></p><br /><p style="TEXT-ALIGN: center" class="MsoNormal" align="center"><o:p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new';"></span></o:p></p><br /><p style="TEXT-ALIGN: center" class="MsoNormal" align="center"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new';">You crack our bedroom wall hanging</span></p><br /><p style="TEXT-ALIGN: center" class="MsoNormal" align="center"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new';">a picture of an actor </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new';">on a bent nail. The picture laughs</span></p><br /><p style="TEXT-ALIGN: center" class="MsoNormal" align="center"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new';">over your record player. </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new';">The other kids </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new';">use CDs </span></p><br /><p style="TEXT-ALIGN: center" class="MsoNormal" align="center"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new';">but you like feeling old</span></p><br /><p style="TEXT-ALIGN: center" class="MsoNormal" align="center"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new';"><br /></span></p><br /><p style="TEXT-ALIGN: center" class="MsoNormal" align="center"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new';">and used like the skinny book </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new';">about New York </span></p><br /><p style="TEXT-ALIGN: center" class="MsoNormal" align="center"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new';">whose pages are bird wings </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new';">in your back pocket.</span></p><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 300px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 400px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5642387867025044594" border="0" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-C4qGumeg-KE/Tk3J3tMAdHI/AAAAAAAABQs/O-beUc_Ec2c/s400/sprawl%2B19.jpg" /> <br /><p style="TEXT-ALIGN: center" class="MsoNormal" align="center"><o:p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new';"></span></o:p></p><br /><p style="TEXT-ALIGN: center" class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new';"><br /></span></p><br /><p style="TEXT-ALIGN: center" class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new';"></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new';">4.</span></p><br /><p style="TEXT-ALIGN: center" class="MsoNormal" align="center"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new';">Your fingernails grow </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new';">into hooks. I try not to breathe</span></p><br /><p style="TEXT-ALIGN: center" class="MsoNormal" align="center"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new';">on your scratches </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new';">as they open into streams. Maybe</span></p><br /><p style="TEXT-ALIGN: center" class="MsoNormal" align="center"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new';"></span></p><br /><p style="TEXT-ALIGN: center" class="MsoNormal" align="center"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new';">you’re fishing. Maybe my eyes </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new';">aren’t burning </span></p><br /><p style="TEXT-ALIGN: center" class="MsoNormal" align="center"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new';">like the barn </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new';">inside you, a horse galloping</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new';"> </span></p><br /><p style="TEXT-ALIGN: center" class="MsoNormal" align="center"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new';">over our carpet </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new';">as hooves rain</span></p><br /><p style="TEXT-ALIGN: center" class="MsoNormal" align="center"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new';"></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new';">like nails from the ceiling.</span></p><br /><p style="TEXT-ALIGN: center" class="MsoNormal"><o:p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new';"></span></o:p></p><br /><p style="TEXT-ALIGN: center" class="MsoNormal" align="center"><o:p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new';"></span></o:p></p><br /><p style="TEXT-ALIGN: center" class="MsoNormal" align="center"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new';"><br /></span></p><br /><p style="TEXT-ALIGN: center" class="MsoNormal" align="center"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new';">5.</span></p><br /><p style="TEXT-ALIGN: center" class="MsoNormal" align="center"><o:p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new';"></span></o:p></p><br /><p style="TEXT-ALIGN: center" class="MsoNormal" align="center"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new';">Your record spins</span></p><br /><p style="TEXT-ALIGN: center" class="MsoNormal" align="center"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new';">in ever-tightening circles, a gypsy singing:</span></p><br /><p style="TEXT-ALIGN: center" class="MsoNormal" align="center"><o:p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new';"></span></o:p></p><br /><p style="TEXT-ALIGN: center" class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new';"></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new';">I’d rather be a hammer than a nail<o:p></o:p></span></i></p><br /><p style="TEXT-ALIGN: center" class="MsoNormal"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new';"><br /></span></i></p><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 266px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5642387855599575042" border="0" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/--Xud6MHyGKo/Tk3J3Cn9oAI/AAAAAAAABQc/vJhDYJohKbU/s400/sprawl%2B17.jpg" /> <br /><p style="TEXT-ALIGN: center" class="MsoNormal"><i><o:p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new';"></span></o:p></i></p><br /><p style="TEXT-ALIGN: center" class="MsoNormal"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new';"><o:p></o:p></span></i></p><br /><p style="TEXT-ALIGN: center" class="MsoNormal"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new';"><o:p></o:p></span></i></p><br /><p style="TEXT-ALIGN: center" class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new';"><br /></span></p><br /><p style="TEXT-ALIGN: center" class="MsoNormal"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new';"></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new';">6.</span></p><br /><p style="TEXT-ALIGN: center" class="MsoNormal"><o:p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new';"></span></o:p></p><br /><p style="TEXT-ALIGN: center" class="MsoNormal"><o:p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new';"></span></o:p></p><br /><p style="TEXT-ALIGN: center" class="MsoNormal" align="center"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new';"></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new';">Every morning our mom sweeps</span></p><br /><p style="TEXT-ALIGN: center" class="MsoNormal" align="center"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new';">the nails from our carpet. She opens a box</span></p><br /><p style="TEXT-ALIGN: center" class="MsoNormal" align="center"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new';">and puts the nails inside. Then she opens </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new';">another box</span></p><br /><p style="TEXT-ALIGN: center" class="MsoNormal" align="center"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new';">and waits.</span></p><br /><p style="TEXT-ALIGN: center" class="MsoNormal" align="center"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new';"><br /></span></p><br /><p style="TEXT-ALIGN: center" class="MsoNormal" align="center"><o:p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new';"></span></o:p></p><br /><p style="TEXT-ALIGN: center" class="MsoNormal" align="center"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new';">At the bottom of the box</span></p><br /><p style="TEXT-ALIGN: center" class="MsoNormal" align="center"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new';">is a single nail. </span></p><br /><p style="TEXT-ALIGN: center" class="MsoNormal" align="center"><o:p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new';"></span></o:p></p><br /><p style="TEXT-ALIGN: center" class="MsoNormal" align="center"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new';"></span></p><br /><p style="TEXT-ALIGN: center" class="MsoNormal" align="center"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new';"><br /></span></p><br /><p style="TEXT-ALIGN: center" class="MsoNormal" align="center"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new';">7.</span></p><br /><p style="TEXT-ALIGN: center" class="MsoNormal" align="center"><o:p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new';"></span></o:p></p><br /><p style="TEXT-ALIGN: center" class="MsoNormal" align="center"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new';">She’s waiting for you</span></p><br /><p style="TEXT-ALIGN: center" class="MsoNormal" align="center"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new';">to step inside. She wants to make nail soup—</span></p><br /><p style="TEXT-ALIGN: center" class="MsoNormal" align="center"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new';">you soup—</span></p><br /><p style="TEXT-ALIGN: center" class="MsoNormal" align="center"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new';">me soup--</span></p><br /><p style="TEXT-ALIGN: center" class="MsoNormal" align="center"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new';">our house simmers on a low boil :</span></p><br /><p style="TEXT-ALIGN: center" class="MsoNormal" align="center"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new';"><br /></span></p><br /><p style="TEXT-ALIGN: center" class="MsoNormal" align="center"><o:p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new';"></span></o:p></p><br /><p style="TEXT-ALIGN: center" class="MsoNormal" align="center"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new';">“Only a gypsy can make soup</span></p><br /><p style="TEXT-ALIGN: center" class="MsoNormal" align="center"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new';">from a nail.”</span></p><br /><p style="TEXT-ALIGN: center" class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>Clare Welshhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00642082309473241915noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2760407035606247333.post-70943496389082279832011-08-16T20:35:00.000-07:002011-09-06T22:02:06.978-07:00Upon Moving to Sunset Acres (1996)<img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-1Wucv5l6cPM/Tks4E-t52iI/AAAAAAAABOc/q4TCJBIJwqo/s400/180979_1851986816269_1138726361_32273284_5616538_n.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5641664616417843746" /><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CCCCCC;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CCCCCC;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: 14px; font-family:'courier new';"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CCCCCC;">1. Arrival</span></b></span></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 14px; "><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CCCCCC;"><br /></span></span></span></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new';"><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CCCCCC;">The engine crimps the forest</span></span></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CCCCCC;">in your ear so I hold your hand</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CCCCCC;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CCCCCC;">as we step into the van.</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CCCCCC;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CCCCCC;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CCCCCC;"><br /></span></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CCCCCC;">2. Our Neighborhood</span></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CCCCCC;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CCCCCC;">is a world at once small, </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(204, 204, 204); ">a mouth</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(204, 204, 204); "> of baby teeth yawning</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CCCCCC;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CCCCCC;">in the desert. Our house is like the other</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CCCCCC;">houses circling the pavement, windows</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CCCCCC;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CCCCCC;"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-q3lwls8melc/Tks4FGR8-DI/AAAAAAAABOk/iuYjf5FSKoU/s400/248123_2110058747906_1138726361_32629232_214940_n.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5641664618448091186" /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CCCCCC;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CCCCCC;">facing other windows</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CCCCCC;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CCCCCC;"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-THn9Ozl-IGQ/Tks4FWt0RxI/AAAAAAAABOs/ns6edx_pP3Y/s400/251504_2110059307920_1138726361_32629233_5707435_n.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5641664622859929362" /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CCCCCC;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CCCCCC;">with invisible soup</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CCCCCC;"> can telephone lines between our bedroom</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CCCCCC;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CCCCCC;">and theirs.</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CCCCCC;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CCCCCC;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CCCCCC;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CCCCCC;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CCCCCC;">3. Rain comes to Candyland </span></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CCCCCC;"></span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CCCCCC;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CCCCCC;">Sidewalks marshmallow our lawn, vanilla</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CCCCCC;">sugars sanding pavement seas as cars lean</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CCCCCC;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CCCCCC;">against curbs like beached whales. The sea</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CCCCCC;">is lava, but we are</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CCCCCC;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CCCCCC;">safe under our umbrella. You wave</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CCCCCC;">to the kids on the opposite shore, cheeks swelling</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CCCCCC;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CCCCCC;">like a soldier on the 10 o' clock news.</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CCCCCC;"><br /><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CCCCCC;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CCCCCC;"><br /></span></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CCCCCC;">4. Your Memory</span></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CCCCCC;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CCCCCC;">Our bikes rattle parking lot fences, diamond</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CCCCCC;">shadows on our legs. The shopping cart</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CCCCCC;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CCCCCC;"> is a black </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(204, 204, 204); ">horse, a dot sinking</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CCCCCC;">firework horizon. Dry mouthed</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CCCCCC;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CCCCCC;">we remember the forest.</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CCCCCC;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CCCCCC;"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-n8d4KQD6PZ4/TktFTDHYQwI/AAAAAAAABPE/INFLmV5fvVM/s400/sprawl4.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5641679151767765762" /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CCCCCC;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CCCCCC;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CCCCCC;"><br /><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CCCCCC;">5. Blanket Fort</span></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CCCCCC;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CCCCCC;">Sleeping bags cocoon our wide-awake skin, dandelion pillows</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CCCCCC;"> in Cheez-It fields, a river</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(204, 204, 204); ">of Capri Sun. Blankets stretch over crooked bones</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(204, 204, 204); "><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CCCCCC;">or furniture, flashlights pulsing</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CCCCCC;">story book hearts. I pull my tie-dye wolf shirt</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CCCCCC;">over my leggy doorknobs and smell the desert</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CCCCCC;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CCCCCC;">in a single carpet fiber.</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CCCCCC;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CCCCCC;"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 277px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-JAHQDF3u4o4/TktMwy2LIwI/AAAAAAAABPk/HdvrSmo0qM8/s400/sprawl%2B8.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5641687359378105090" /></span><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CCCCCC;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></span></b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CCCCCC;">6. Want Something?</span></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CCCCCC;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CCCCCC;">The bus comes tomorrow</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CCCCCC;">, they say.</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CCCCCC;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CCCCCC;">The shopping cart, our dirty teardrop, chomps</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CCCCCC;">his bit. He gallops into the firework horizon, ears bobbing</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CCCCCC;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CCCCCC;">like TV antennae. Their mom ghosts the door:</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CCCCCC;">“You kids want something?”</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CCCCCC;"><br /></span><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CCCCCC;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CCCCCC;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CCCCCC;">7. Bus</span></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CCCCCC;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CCCCCC;">The door opens into a yellow bellied centipede.</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CCCCCC;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CCCCCC;">I draw my name on the window as you read</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CCCCCC;">about growing up in New York City,</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CCCCCC;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CCCCCC;">a place you’ve never been.</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CCCCCC;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CCCCCC;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CCCCCC;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CCCCCC;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CCCCCC;"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 234px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-3xrWc6wMOXY/TktMw65ondI/AAAAAAAABPs/13RGZqcqDTY/s400/sprawl%2B9.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5641687361540103634" /><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CCCCCC;">8. Friends</span></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CCCCCC;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CCCCCC;">“Which house is yours?”</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CCCCCC;">“The white one.”</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CCCCCC;">“Mine too.”</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CCCCCC;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CCCCCC;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CCCCCC;"><br /></span></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CCCCCC;">9. Mr. Kay Say</span></b><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CCCCCC;">s</span></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CCCCCC;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CCCCCC;">the sun is dying--</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(204, 204, 204); ">in 15 billion years the Earth</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CCCCCC;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CCCCCC;"> will collapse like the blue</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CCCCCC;"> inside </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(204, 204, 204); ">our squeezing eyes. Our parents</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CCCCCC;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CCCCCC;">will die </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(204, 204, 204); ">before then and I guess </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CCCCCC;">we will</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CCCCCC;"></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(204, 204, 204); ">too but what scares </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(204, 204, 204); ">me</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(204, 204, 204); "><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(204, 204, 204); "> is that even in a black hole</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(204, 204, 204); ">our Neighborhood will diamond </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(204, 204, 204); ">the nothing:</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CCCCCC;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CCCCCC;">red, blue, and green compressing</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CCCCCC;">singular white.</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CCCCCC;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CCCCCC;"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-fRd7x3qJ-As/TktRDNrxOGI/AAAAAAAABP0/rco3hW82g38/s400/sprawl%2B11.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5641692073866377314" /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CCCCCC;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CCCCCC;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CCCCCC;">10. Cul-de-Sac</span></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CCCCCC;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CCCCCC;">The circle sleeps as I pop</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CCCCCC;">tar bubbles, tiny planetariums collapsing</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CCCCCC;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CCCCCC;">under God’s finger, which still has a scar</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CCCCCC;">from the firework </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(204, 204, 204); ">that burned our barn. </span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(204, 204, 204); "><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(204, 204, 204); ">Your horse screamed </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CCCCCC;">like a vacuum</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CCCCCC;"> jumping </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(204, 204, 204); ">sidewalk silence. Your horse died</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(204, 204, 204); "><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CCCCCC;">before running from the barn, skeleton streaking</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(204, 204, 204); ">the night with a yellow bruise. </span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(204, 204, 204); "><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(204, 204, 204); ">They say </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CCCCCC;">the circle is </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(204, 204, 204); ">a Cul-de-sac,</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(204, 204, 204); "> which is a pretty word </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(204, 204, 204); ">to say aloud </span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(204, 204, 204); "><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(204, 204, 204); ">until I remember </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(204, 204, 204); ">your horse, </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(204, 204, 204); ">and our parents.</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CCCCCC;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CCCCCC;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CCCCCC;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CCCCCC;">11. What You Ask Our Parents Over Dinner</span></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CCCCCC;"><br /></span></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CCCCCC;"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-7tPeEb7aoTc/TktFS8UmrEI/AAAAAAAABO0/2yb52Vme-JA/s400/sprawl2.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5641679149944187970" /></span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CCCCCC;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CCCCCC;">“Did you die before running here?”</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CCCCCC;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CCCCCC;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CCCCCC;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CCCCCC;"><br /></span></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CCCCCC;">12. Wal-Mart</span></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CCCCCC;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CCCCCC;">Our mom parks between lines that we cross</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CCCCCC;">with shadow-eager legs, asphalt twigs snapping</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CCCCCC;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CCCCCC;">mountain frost. Mountain: a dragon constipating</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CCCCCC;">white light. A lanky kid</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CCCCCC;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CCCCCC;">herds caterpillar carts. Sliding doors swoosh</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CCCCCC;">air conditioning, skinny dads in plaid</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CCCCCC;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CCCCCC;">surveying </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(204, 204, 204); ">corn flakes in aviator silence, </span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(204, 204, 204); ">kids orbiting </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(204, 204, 204); ">Jupiter moms. You hold</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(204, 204, 204); "><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CCCCCC;">our mom’s doll wrist. She can’t decide</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CCCCCC;"></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(204, 204, 204); ">which cereal</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(204, 204, 204); ">because they all have</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CCCCCC;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CCCCCC;">high-fructose corn syrup, which is like sugar</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CCCCCC;">except fake.</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CCCCCC;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CCCCCC;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CCCCCC;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CCCCCC;">13. Automatic Coupon Dispenser</span></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CCCCCC;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CCCCCC;">Endless paper tongues, I never wanted</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CCCCCC;">anything else. The green light flashes </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CCCCCC;">Save Now!</span></i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CCCCCC;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CCCCCC;">What are we saving?</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CCCCCC;">You rip another tongue. Lives.</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CCCCCC;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CCCCCC;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CCCCCC;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CCCCCC;">14. Check-Out</span></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CCCCCC;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CCCCCC;">Our mom’s cart, a coffin</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CCCCCC;"> rocking paper tongues. She never decided</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CCCCCC;">on a cereal but is getting me </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(204, 204, 204); ">a water gun </span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(204, 204, 204); "><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(204, 204, 204); ">and you a book </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(204, 204, 204); ">because you hate</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(204, 204, 204); "> getting your hair wet. Car windows </span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(204, 204, 204); ">reflect </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(204, 204, 204); ">Mary Kay skies, a panda propped</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(204, 204, 204); "><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CCCCCC;">on parking lights. The lanky kid</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CCCCCC;"> flashes his smiley face sticker</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CCCCCC;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CCCCCC;">and frowns. From our backseat I watch</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CCCCCC;">other kids </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(204, 204, 204); ">in other backseats and shield my eyes</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(204, 204, 204); "><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CCCCCC;">from the white mountain.</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CCCCCC;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CCCCCC;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CCCCCC;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CCCCCC;"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 266px; height: 400px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-0J30Ku24-z4/Tku7N8IpskI/AAAAAAAABQM/pcTI-cb9ie4/s400/sprawl%2B14.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5641808806366786114" /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CCCCCC;"><br /></span></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CCCCCC;"><br /></span></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CCCCCC;">15. Acclimatized</span></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CCCCCC;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CCCCCC;">The forest in your ear now grows</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CCCCCC;">in our bedroom.</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CCCCCC;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CCCCCC;">A stream bursts</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CCCCCC;">from your mouth. I forget the taste</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CCCCCC;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CCCCCC;">of bottled water. We ride our bed</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CCCCCC;">downstairs, oceans filling carpet deserts.</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CCCCCC;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CCCCCC;">Our mom looks up from empty cereal boxes:</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CCCCCC;">“You kids want something?”</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CCCCCC;"><br /></span><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CCCCCC;">I hold my hand over your mouth to keep</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CCCCCC;">the ocean in. My other hand scrapes your chest,</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CCCCCC;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CCCCCC;">a horse-shaped space.</span></div></span></span></span><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div>Clare Welshhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00642082309473241915noreply@blogger.com0