The Seas

by Samantha Hunt

My mother is regularly torn between being herself and being my mother.

Having my grandfather in the house is like having a secret tunnel open to the distant past, where he lives.

let peace begin with me.”

the way people get hard-skinned with age and use that hard skin like a file to toughen up their children.

She is strong but her bones are tiny, and sometimes when I hug her I can feel her heart beat through her chest like the battering of an insect trapped in a lamp.