Bad Trip
Monsters on an extended road trip
& you don’t know scary until you’ve seen America by car
Bad Fit
Certain types of people don’t fit in here, she told me when we first moved in. Just assume you’re one of them & you’ll be fine.
Bad Argument
I don’t believe in love, he said & I nodded & said I’d heard that argument before & it always ends badly & he couldn’t think of another thing to say.
Backup Plan
Sometimes I think we should bury all our money in a hole & go back to enjoying life again, he said. It’d probably be a good idea to make a map of where the hole was just in case it didn’t work out though.
Backup Husband
You can’t just say stuff like that, she told me, people will think you’re serious & I nodded & said I know & won’t they be surprised when they finally figure it out & she shook her head & said she should probably make plans then for a backup husband.
Back to Nature
We went camping once & the people next to us had a TV & they invited us over to watch the Miss America pageant & everyone said isn’t nature wonderful & after a while I went over to the dunes & watched the waves smile brightly in the moonlight.
Back to Me
We don’t have much time, he said, so I’ll just tell you about me.
Awakening
In those days, we finally chose to walk like giants
& hold the world in arms grown strong with love
& there may be many things we forget in the days
to come, but this will not be one of them.
Avoiding Stuff
Feeding anything that looks even vaguely fierce,
since he doesn’t feel like dealing with
that kind of stuff today
Avoidance
I’ve learned not to look too closely, she said. Otherwise I’d just keep finding out stuff that’d bug me & we’d never get along.
Autumns
I moved a lot when I was young & I still ache a bit at the thought of all those autumns in new & unfamiliar landscapes.
Attack Dog
My aunt had a poodle she dressed in little red sweaters with little dangly ball things & I don’t think it was any wonder that dog was so vicious.
Apathy
I don’t care if no one likes it, she said, unless no one likes it.
Anxiety Break
things have been going so well that she’s taking an anxiety break to keep centered
Ant Gods
I dug up an anthill once & my friend told me the ant gods would come to get me in my dreams & I said I didn’t believe him, but later that night I went down & tried to put the anthill back together & I even added some lettuce & mashed potatoes & pork chop from dinner in case they’d been too busy to eat & I never heard from the ant gods, so I figure it worked out.
Angels of Mercy
Most people don’t know there are angels whose only job is to make sure you don’t get too comfortable & fall asleep & miss your life.
Angel of Dreams
Every night for a hundred years the angel of dreams came to the town & splashed the walls with bright colors that stayed until the first light of day.
Angel Butt
I’ll bet even an angel’s butt itches if he has to do too much sitting on hard places.
Ancient Songs
That was the day the ancient songs of blood & war spilled from a hole in the sky & there was a long moment as we listened & fell silent in our grief & then one by one, we stood tall & came together & began to sing of life & love & all that is good & true & I will never forget that day when the ancient songs died because there was no one in the world to sing them.
Ancient Kings
My grandmother kept a box of old photos in her attic & we used to go up there on rainy days & sit on the floor in the dusty light & go through them & she would tell about witches & broken hearts & how we came from royal blood & it was all there in the pictures, she said & then we’d lose the light & we’d all go downstairs for dinner & in our secret hearts we sat taller knowing once we had ruled the world.