My Son the Man
by Sharon Olds
Suddenly his shoulders get a lot wider,
the way Houdini would expand his body
while people were putting him in chains. It seems
no time since I would help him to put on his sleeper,
guide his calves into the gold interior,
zip him up and toss him up and
catch his weight. I [...]

So JD Salinger has died. Can’t say he didn’t have it coming, he was 91 years old. That’s a ripe old age and if you’ve got to go (and you do) you may as well go with 91 years under your belt.
Stephen King wrote a couple short paragraphs on his passing over at his EW [...]

Matt was treating me for an ingrown toenail. I know, it’s gross, but he really loves me and I just had a pedicure today so…
ANYWAY. My toe hurt so bad I couldn’t stand it. We’re talking white-hot, searing, eye-watering hurt here. I’m limping around and grimacing, being oh so very brave, I was. I didn’t [...]

Tonight while getting ready for bed the saddest thought crossed my mind. I had a sudden, unexplained vision of Kaileb as a baby, scooting across a hardwood floor, one sock on and a diaper. That’s it. Nothing else. His hair was much blonder and he still had chubby little baby cheeks. He was maybe just [...]

A good friend of mine sent me some raw peanuts from Louisiana. You can’t really find them in Seattle. I made some boiled peanuts with them. I have fond memories of growing up in South Carolina, stopping at some mom and pop gas station on the way to the beach and buying a wet, steaming [...]

that even though the boys are now 13 and 14 years old, I still sneak into their rooms sometimes to watch the blankets move up and down.
Sometimes, if I can’t tell, I’ll place my hand on their back. Just to feel it rise and fall.
I have to reassure myself that they are still breathing.
Like, for [...]

Jacob went to a BBQ today. It was with his girlfriend and her parents. I met them when I dropped him off at their house. Nice folks. And little Miss M is just a cutie, with her silky, red hair and sweet little fourteen year old smile behind those braces. Oh yeah, she could be [...]

I cook and clean. That’s what I do. It’s what I’m best at. I’ve been doing it for 14 years, without stopping once. I cook and clean in my sleep. Yep. I’m a cooker and a cleaner.
I realize that it’s a mother’s job and we do it with suuuuch selflessness and love we should [...]

Kaileb told me the other day that whenever he thinks of our president, he thinks of Poe. Like Poe is a dog version of President Bush and vice versa.
This is President Bush:

This is Poe:

President Bush:

Poe:

Maybe the kid is on to something?