Jennifer Acker's Blog, page 125
November 7, 2018
The First Day of Fall
SHANE CASHMAN
I fear that whatever’s making that sound wants to devour me or possess me. Or is it asking for help?
I fear that whatever’s making that sound wants to devour me or possess me. Or is it asking for help?
October 29, 2018
Baby Was Not Fine
MINDY MISENER
Right before Baby finished ninth grade, Jerry (Baby’s dad) announced that Baby and Carla (Baby’s older sister) would work for him that summer. Baby thought it was a great idea. She would much rather landscape for Jerry than work at one of the three pizza/sub joints in town.
Right before Baby finished ninth grade, Jerry (Baby’s dad) announced that Baby and Carla (Baby’s older sister) would work for him that summer. Baby thought it was a great idea. She would much rather landscape for Jerry than work at one of the three pizza/sub joints in town.
Bovine
TOM PAINE
I magnified the spine through a glass of water. Exquisite. I gingerly set the little spine aside on a plate, took another tentative bite of sardines, and while wondering whether you ever feel we made a mistake, felt a tiny spine adrift on my tongue. I shattered it under bovine molars ...
I magnified the spine through a glass of water. Exquisite. I gingerly set the little spine aside on a plate, took another tentative bite of sardines, and while wondering whether you ever feel we made a mistake, felt a tiny spine adrift on my tongue. I shattered it under bovine molars ...
Project for a Trip to China
LISA CHEN
I have always been partial to this story. Like the narrator, I have always imagined I would go to China one day. Doesn’t every Chinese person not from China have a project for a trip to China? My mother, even as a little girl in Hong Kong, yearned to see the Three Gorges.
I have always been partial to this story. Like the narrator, I have always imagined I would go to China one day. Doesn’t every Chinese person not from China have a project for a trip to China? My mother, even as a little girl in Hong Kong, yearned to see the Three Gorges.
Sofa
CEZANNE CARDONA MORALES
The sofa was more cream than yellow; it had solid wood legs and fit three people comfortably. Though my parents didn’t intend it, that morning there were already three of us. As soon as my mother knew she was pregnant, she bought the sofa. It was the first thing they got on credit.
The sofa was more cream than yellow; it had solid wood legs and fit three people comfortably. Though my parents didn’t intend it, that morning there were already three of us. As soon as my mother knew she was pregnant, she bought the sofa. It was the first thing they got on credit.
Resurrection
NATHALIE HANDAL
“Why do you keep moving? / Because I’ve been given no other choice… / With what do you cross borders? / A notebook, a hat, a picture of Jerusalem and a poem in Aramaic. / What do you say when they ask you where you are from? / Nothing—the pain on my face is enough."
“Why do you keep moving? / Because I’ve been given no other choice… / With what do you cross borders? / A notebook, a hat, a picture of Jerusalem and a poem in Aramaic. / What do you say when they ask you where you are from? / Nothing—the pain on my face is enough."
Land Not Theirs
MADISON DAVIS
I have just a few weeks to come up with eight thousand dollars in order to register for spring classes. The most obvious resolution would be that I take the semester off, move back to Ohio… But I know that the likelihood of returning to school after a long break is small.
I have just a few weeks to come up with eight thousand dollars in order to register for spring classes. The most obvious resolution would be that I take the semester off, move back to Ohio… But I know that the likelihood of returning to school after a long break is small.
Tonight, the Wind
HUGO RÍOS CORDERO
She rocked the shore with her savage breath, and the waters were not any kinder. It was a brutal noise, the bastard child of a jet engine and a rock concert without any trace of surrealism’s grace. The zinc roofs were the first to go, but even the sturdier buildings were stripped.
She rocked the shore with her savage breath, and the waters were not any kinder. It was a brutal noise, the bastard child of a jet engine and a rock concert without any trace of surrealism’s grace. The zinc roofs were the first to go, but even the sturdier buildings were stripped.
The History of Sound
BEN SHATTUCK
I pushed through the crowd, towards the music. The smell of soap, beer, and smoke filled the room. I leaned against the wall, hip touching the piano’s back beam, watching David play. His eyes were closed. Cigarette wilting from his lips. Smoke crawling up his face. Black hair combed back.
I pushed through the crowd, towards the music. The smell of soap, beer, and smoke filled the room. I leaned against the wall, hip touching the piano’s back beam, watching David play. His eyes were closed. Cigarette wilting from his lips. Smoke crawling up his face. Black hair combed back.
Bounty
RICARDO ALBERTO MALDONADO
One lápiz. One pen. One ocean between us. Six: Home. /
Seven: FEMA: four thousand more, /
I recite. /
I state I am large; we are to be /
larger. Uno dos tres siete dieciséis cuatro mil /
más I begin with. I begin dentro de mí, dentro /
de nosotros.
One lápiz. One pen. One ocean between us. Six: Home. /
Seven: FEMA: four thousand more, /
I recite. /
I state I am large; we are to be /
larger. Uno dos tres siete dieciséis cuatro mil /
más I begin with. I begin dentro de mí, dentro /
de nosotros.
