Goodbye to all the people who said I couldn’t do it.
Peace out to those who never believed in me, and fuck off to those who have hoped I’d fail.
I am up at five o’clock every morning to put words on a page because this is my story and I want to write it and write for a living like I used to.
So be wary, writers, of putting all your eggs in one basket, because if the basket drops, you do, too.
Get up early. Get your butt in the chair.
Wake up your imagination and say hello.… Read the rest
Are you patriotic? What does being patriotic mean to you?
When I was little, I think we were all patriotic.
I think that as long as we didn’t have parents at home with rather strong and conflicting beliefs against living nicely with people in society, we might still all be patriotic.
We all learned to salute the flag, to stand for the national anthem, to remove our hats when we sang it, to respect our flag when we hang it.
And now?
Now I see America broken in half.
I’ve seen too many Ford-F150s with these massive American flags on … Read the rest
“Write an English sonnet centered on the theme of the supernatural.”
Yeah, okay, I thought as I closed my laptop. No schoolwork for me today.
Instead I’m going to go out and enjoy the fresh air under a blue sky full of clouds and dance in the grass until I have to collapse there, lest I die.
I will lay and feel the breeze and smell the flowers around me, and hear the children laughing and the birds singing.
I can’t help but think it wasn’t writing to themes Shakespeare was worried about, it was missing perfect days like these.… Read the rest
“Go get it Shirley, go get it!”
“Why did you name a dog Shirley? It doesn’t sound like a good name for a dog.”
“That was her name when I got her, when she retired from being the city’s top K-9 officer.”
“You mean dog.”
“No, I mean officer. They were treated like part of the police force, same as the humans.”
“That’s crazy.”
“Why?”
“Because they’re just dogs.”
“This dog just saved the lives of children who were drowning, you know. And children who were lost in fiery buildings. And children who liked to argue with their mothers.”
“Okay.”… Read the rest
She couldn’t get out of bed anymore, except to use the bathroom, and that’s only because she was forced and shamed into it.
She would have just laid there and died, it’s what she wanted.
Living alone was never something she was cut out for, and she didn’t want to do it.
She’d spend the rest of her breaths wrapped in black silk waiting for her turn to go.
It didn’t matter that she had a child who needed her, friends and family who loved her, or work that fulfilled her – nothing mattered but what was lost and gone … Read the rest
They got him a new car every time he crashed his old one.
The kid was a speed demon, but they loved him no matter how reckless he was, no matter how casual he was with taking other people’s lives in his careless hands.
Trying to stop him was useless. He would have left home, he would have disappeared on them.
They would try to reason with him, they would tell him he might ruin his future (but not that he might die) and his only answer was:
“Speed never killed anyone. It’s becoming suddenly stationary, that’s what gets you.”… Read the rest
Forty-three years and I still feel like I am a child that is working hard on figuring things out on my own because no one cares enough to care for me.
I forgot to pay my taxes, I don’t know how to submit an insurance claim, I don’t know how to refinance my car, and feel like all I have to turn to is my new best friend Claude.
Is it ever really too late?
I mean, to become the person I want to be?
The sun is starting to set on this life, but I am not done yet.… Read the rest
The day winds down and you know you’re leaving work only to go home to try to answer the daily question of what the fuck is for dinner?
You’re glad to leave work, but going home has its own stressors.
There’s the child who chews with her mouth open, loudly. There’s the boyfriend whose loyalty you question. There’s the job you love but you’re terrified of losing.
But you open the door and there are flowers on the table; vibrant, bright, ferociously alive.
Their scent is a welcome assault; you breathe and smile.
You never know what’ll be a daymaker.… Read the rest
I didn’t want to fight. I wasn’t made for battle, I was made to sit on a throne and be quiet and pretty.
When my brother ran in, he was already mortally wounded and died in my arms.
His blood was the anger I needed to pick up his sword and fight back.
A rebel entered. Had I been empty handed, he may have left, but I was armed, and he engaged me.
His sword came down, and I saw the faces of my people in his blade.
I hacked and stabbed and finally killed him.
But all for nothing.… Read the rest
