The Job of the Wasp

by Colin Winnette

I am—yet what I am none cares or knows. —john clare

What do you say; will that suffice?” “Yes,” I told him. “Have you always been so agreeable?” he said. “I’m sure I haven’t,” I said. “But I know when it’s time to fight and when it’s time to say ‘Thank you’ and ‘I understand’ and ‘Yes.’”

I thought about this and realized that at that point in my life I was loyal to no one and felt pride for nothing. It was something I hoped to change.

“He’s a pervert,” said the Headmaster. “Don’t pay him any mind at all.”

People can feel the weight of our lies, even if they don’t detect them as such. But honesty adds oxygen to a room.

no item on the list represents on its own the actual, primary source of my fear, it can’t be reasoned away, put down, thought out, or fully dealt with. I can only cycle through the endless possibilities, exhausting each item before moving on to the next.”