"Smile!," "The Finest," and "The Young"

"The First Time I Called Myself His Girl" and "You Google Drive-Thru Margaritas"

Yoda’s thirst provided more difficult than anything he had faced on the planet before. He did not have running water, and couldn’t just pop down to Pel’Kiha’s Corner Store anymore.

"commandment" and "do i miss you? that's none of my business"

There was a time I had a flower in my mouth...

Going to work after you’ve been on an meth bender in a brothel is not a good idea,

Previously on...
Part 5  ||  Part 4  ||  Part 3  ||  Part 2  ||  Part 1  ||  Prologue

"Splendido Splendente" and "Salt and Pepper or Salt and Vinegar"

I've got the alien walk down...

You make me want to write bad poetry...

I ask because, of course, I haven’t heard from our assassin.

Sangria at a soup shop. Pieces of peach and apple in the wine. The skin of the fruits unpeeled in my mouth. Sangria even though it was winter, early evening, cold and already dark out. Goblet-sized,

"Elon Musk Is Moving to Austin" and "Good Joy"

It’s a Tuesday at 3 pm, which means it’s time for my therapist to remind me that I am a victim of a violent crime.

The house on Olean street stands as it once did, a formerly bright white house, the sidings been torn off, revealing dark greenish-black shingles. This house, the black sheep of the neighborhood.

"sorry to ping / i just want to know who was too good for who..."

My father locked his children up in a house for years for fear that they would die of pesticides from plants. More than that, we were locked in our rooms with a gate.

It was a sidewalk funeral.

"High School Kids and Gonorrhea" and "Bearclaw Asshole"

There’s a story my father used to tell from his days as an ER resident. An old lady showed up for care, and when he asked her what had brought her in, she calmly raised a hand, showing him her palm. It was pierced straight through with a long darning needle.

Bet you’ve only made lahmajoon from scratch once. Bet you’ve made pierogi dough once. Bet your attempts at grandma’s pilaf recipe are crunchy and undercooked, noodles burnt, stuck to the bottom of the pot.

I approached looking at thirst traps like I did those Magic Eye 3D posters I’d stared at as a kid. If I stared long enough, I believed, I could see something real in those thirst traps.

One day, I end up on the side of the road next to a bobcat who is thrashing after being hit by a car.

I -- Book

In every house of our memories, there is a book. In the basement of mine, there is a paperback with pictures of the sea. 

The underwater camera is smeared with the blurriness of

Bread has its own history, its own holiness. Flour was pounded from prehistoric plants then roasted on the hot stones of Neanderthal fires. Ancient Egyptians milled grain between giant rocks, dark, mixed flour, imperfect loaves with heady scent.

The first six months I took hormones I was frumpy and ridiculous looking. I didn’t know anything about makeup or styling