A pair of jeans, skinny jeans, dark, black skinny jeans always feel a size too small when it's the morning after a night out. Grace, after a bit of a squat jump, manages to get the jeans over her ass, zipped and buttoned. The girl Grace had just been sleeping next to is topless and …
A child needs to do one thing over and over to calm himself down when the adults get angry. What does he do? How does he learn it?
A foot's tap Is his music, A bird's chirp: That's his music. And at six, Vibrating his lips, Slapping his knees, And a clock's tick Puts Max to sleep. Mother's expletives Sound best With eyes shut. And a bottle's clink When thrown at the sink Is Max's music. Shutting one ear Then opening it again Changes …
The Cleaning Lady
Maria cleans my bedroom and Maria doesn't judge. Maria watches Judge Joe Brown reruns while ironing, but if I want to watch something, Maria hands me the remote. I bet Maria would be the coolest mom. Maria puts Windex on an old cloth she pulled from the plastic basket she keeps in the trunk of her …
Your Favorite Piece of Playground Equipment
As a human destined to forever be under five feet, a fear of heights is a trait I made sure never to possess. As a child, if there was something I couldn't reach, which happened fairly often, I'd climb. I climbed kitchen countertops to get cups and plates; I climbed the shelves in my closet …
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Pick a country, and imagine we’ve been at war with it for fourteen years. Write a love story in that world.
Bring our troops home Is a type of joke all it’s own Because all we’ve ever known is war. Developments are two steps back, And casualties are currency To the comfortable and corrupt. The deadliest battles Are slipped under the rug, And Momma writes letters Because she doesn’t sleep too much. They say we don’t …
The First Time You Were Worried That You Had Come Off Sounding Racist.
I was five and in Mrs. Pagano’s morning kindergarten class. Trichelle wasn’t there on the first day of school. I don’t recall how late into the year she arrived, but she was definitely the new girl and definitely the only black student. I suppose at the time I didn't realize my first reactions to seeing …
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Find a photograph. Write the story of what’s happening outside the frame.
Outside the frame, it’s 7 in the morning. Outside the frame, it’s cloudy, late August. Outside the frame and two hours prior, Em drove us to the beach and It was decided later on, Recalling our lack of shoes in the bagel shop, That we might’ve still been drunk. Outside the frame, the beach …
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Describe One of Your Bad Habits and Why You Secretly Get Joy Out of It.
I’m not a cigarette smoker, though I’ve dabbled. I’m not much of a junk food eater, but I love a good dessert, and I follow a few TV shows but I’m really not one to binge. But okay, I’ll admit it - I do procrastinate when it comes to the boring topics, pick at my …
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Make A Scene With A Charater Exhibiting Really Bad Behavior
For the first time in 16 months, Kaitlyn feels young. Back in Afghanistan, age didn’t matter. Strength did. Strength, and how quickly you could make the right decision under extreme pressure, extreme heat. That’s what kept you alive. That’s why Kaitlyn, at age 19, is home and at the bar tonight, while Fran, and everyone …
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What’s The Stupidest Thing You Used To Believe Whole-Heartedly
I suppose many who were children during and after 1995 went through a phase very similar to mine, however, did not quite take it as far as I did. 1995 of course was the year John Lasseter and the geniuses over at Pixar created Toy Story. Was it a completely made up story created entirely …
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642 Things to Write About 