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| Sensational Shopping Waiting in line for the surly cashier to finish her bout of sighing and gum-cracking, my gaze lingers on a denim clad derrière, follows the line of brawn along sinewy thighs and muscular calves sweeps upward over strong arms and strapping shoulders to black curls, glistening springy and damp upon the collar of a crisp, white shirt. peculiar sensations, stimulating and heady as red wine, leave me stunned, oblivious to drops of melting ice-cream dribbling down my frozen arms. a husky voice, sensuous and low, stirs remnants of desire long since packed away, unused and forgotten until today. |
| Drowned Frank. Dead at age 8. Drowned the headstone said. You never talked about him. Your brother. Older than you by just two years. At six, would they have told you that Frank slipped through the ice one winter afternoon; then miraculously clawed his way up through the same hole, trudged home, icy garments encasing his shivering body? Did you watch as they rubbed him down, putting him to bed in the frosty room, piling high the blankets dragged off the others beds; convinced he would warm up during the night? Do you remember who found him next morning cold and stiff as his half-frozen clothing still hanging on the line above the kitchen stove? Do you remember the day they buried him? Frank dead at age eight Drowned. |
| Sleepless Nights Photographs packed away at 3 am after another bout of rifling through pages alive with memories of first steps and first love. Startling reminders of school days and holidays, moonlit nights, lakes and loons all laid out flat and weighted down with longing. |
| On Stage Rehearsal night--the final chance to get it right. Frantic teachers sweating behind makeshift curtains, mouthing cues to would-be angels with saran wrap wings, reassuring overstuffed Santas, ignoring upside-down letters, wiping noses, shushing giggles, and taking deep, deep breaths. "Okay, kids, one more time." |
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