Browse the Library

Caregiver

What happened to you? I said & she said she was nurturing the cat against its will
& that was the end of that conversation.

Cannibal

I’d never make a good cannibal, she said. I have to watch my fat intake too closely.

Calculated Risk

Are we your real children? they said & I said we had our pick of all the children in the world & we took a few home to try out & though we tried to return them later, it was more trouble than it was worth, so we kept them & loved them & taught them all the stuff they’d need to know when it came time for them to choose, so they wouldn’t make the same mistakes we did & later I heard one of them say they didn’t know about being a parent if it was as risky as all that.

Cable TV

Some days it’s not worth the effort to pull myself together,
she said, so I’m glad I get cable

Buttons

You don’t get to use buttons until you get to be pretty old, I heard him tell his brother,
but you’ll be slower then & it won’t be so much of a problem.

Butterflies

He told me that the night his mother died, there were storms & far away there was purple lightning & someone left the window open & the room filled with a swirl of butterflies & she slipped out quietly without anyone noticing & I’m sure the grief was softer because of that.

Butter & Sugar

I like butter & sugar & being alive a whole lot &
today I’m kind of sad because with all the latest studies
I figured out I’m going to have to choose.

Busy Life

Everyone sang Happy Birthday except Max who claimed he didn’t know the words.
I was busy that day, he said, & it really hasn’t let up since.

Bunches of Eyes

this shark sees everything because it’s got bunches of eyes
but it has such a tiny brain that it can’t keep it all straight

Bunch of Bones

You know why kids like skeletons? he said & I said I didn’t &
he said it was because it didn’t matter if you were good or bad, you
ended up a bunch of bones & he stopped for a second & then he added,
but you don’t have to worry, I’ll still be good.

Buffer Zone

buffered from almost every shock,
unless the pole falls down

Brown Thumb

When they met the first time, he said he had a brown thumb
because all his plants kept dying & she laughed &
would not give him her number.

Brotherhood of Man

I’m much better at the brotherhood of man thing, he said,
when I can afford to live in a good neighborhood.

Broken Down

this is a machine that’s supposed to make people good &
true & kind & the funny thing is that it works best
when it’s completely broken down so everyone has to stop what
they’re doing & get together & figure out how to fix it.

Breakfast of Champions

Breakfast is not a competition, she said, but they were gone already &
both of them thought they’d won

Breakfast Perspective

you can bet that if oatmeal was bigger than us, he said,
we’d be breakfast cereal in a minute

Brak og latter

Det finnes flere liv jeg kan forestille meg uten barn men ingen av dem er fylt av slik brak og latter.

Born for Retail

has always had the soul of an artist, but the instincts of an attack dog,
so of course he went into retail

Born Again

If I get born again, my son said, do they give me different parents?
& I said no & he shook his head & said they didn’t use their
brains on that one, did they?

Bones of Light

I remember we sat in the swing on the front porch & as the dusk came on us like a song, dark throated & sweet, he told me about the beginning when we had bones of light & hair that burned like the sun & I asked what happened then? & I felt him floating there in the soft dark & finally he said we forgot & I said I never would, but sometimes I do & I understand now why he put his arm around me & said nothing more.