These pages are excerpts from a larger project called Claim, a hybrid poetry/prose and text/image work that began as an oral history project tracking the author’s family’s migrations through Europe, the Middle East and the Americas. It became an exploration
Hold Me, Harmless
Harmless, your car is made of beautiful pieces of fiberglass. I put my face down on the window. I thirst. I touch your car. I touch the wheels of your car with my finger and imagine how warm your trunk
Portrait: I’m Tired of Stealing Coffins from Myself
I’d like to tell you a story in which I push for the death penalty, suit you up with a jury and lay your crime before the court in a manner I learned from Ms. Eliza: Three mice rode a
On Preparing Skeletons for the Closet
If the hacksaw had been used there wouldn’t be so much (yes it is unbelievable, but ask the sky to drop; evidence of bone in the meat the poem will wait; go on) (of course we speak
Even the Army in White, River-wet Baptismal Garments Will Come for Her In Hell
It was so rooky how the BloodGoodBabe first watered down the strychnine for newcomers, so their tolerance would be demi-god like by the time they’d begin professing on their own, but the power of prayer is like yearning to strike
Truss
“Intellectual rigor demands that we give these damned metaphors every chance, even if they are inimical to personal well-being and comfort.” Donald Barthleme, “At the End of the Mechanical Age” “So near is falsehood to truth that a wise man
The Man Trap
After years of unsuccessful baiting, someone finally washed up in the man trap. At first it appeared as if he wanted to be caught as he kept saying things to the cantilever like, “I always keep 4 to 6 grand
Minna and Ada Everleigh Reveal What Possibly Could Have Happened to Marshall Field, Jr.
Of course, we were downstairs. Our job was to oversee the operation, meet and greet the clients, make sure everyone was having a good time, and most of all, keep the money coming in. We were entrepreneurs, after all, good
Milo Himes
Milo Himes disappeared from a Utah beach one Wednesday last month. It’s possible he wandered too far out, drowned in the undertow, but the police suspect foul play, someone grabbing him then disappearing over the dunes. Drifters and local sex
Weightless
It is marvelous to be sure of something, she thought, and removed her shoes. Barefoot, she pushed back her chair and stood, moved aside her place setting, the vegetable platter and the gravy bowl (stopped in their rotation in front