Tag: relationships
The Trip by Dillon Cranston
I walk in; he’s watching Andrei Rublev walk through a shoddy doorway into the rain and disrobe.
“That’s an oldie,” I say. “Are you finding it any good?”
“Hmm,” My son hems. “It’s a lotta doorways. And he’s not very nuanced.” Done thinking, his face flashes. “Don’t spoil anything if you’ve seen it.” Still hung up on the Citizen Kane snafu…
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Twin Sisters by Doug Hawley
I knew I wanted her for a model when I saw the portrait selection at the Portland Art Museum. She was painted hanging out of the passenger seat of a car waving at something unseen by the museum visitors. I don’t know if I’m right, but I thought of early Marilyn Monroe.
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What’s Your Opening Line? by Nina Welch
“It’s the hardest thing to make someone laugh especially if you’ve had nothing to laugh about.” –Tracy Morgan
“You know, I’m homeless.”
Silence.
“Hey you in the second row. You look surprised. Do you think I’m too cute to be homeless? It’s pitiful. I don’t have a floor, a roof over my head, a refrigerator to put food in, a place to shower. Do you feel sorry for me? Ah, a few of you. Don’t. I’m a poet. I don’t follow the rules, and I get inspiration looking up through the moon roof of my 2008 Buick, La Crosse, Gold Mist. My grandpa left it to me in his will. I think of him every night as I sleep under the silver apples of the moon and wake to the golden apples of the sun. You probably think this is a poetry reading. Don’t worry, it’s not.”
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The Arrival by Anna Elin Kristiansen
Fear is gnawing at my insides when I snap my compact shut. Getting caught up in my looks is of no use now. I’m tired – beyond tired, actually, and no amount of powder or mascara will change that. When I meet him, I know I’ll feel naked and transparent. He’ll see right through my façade because I’m half him. My tricks come from him, so he’s bound to know them already.
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Overtime by Karen Uttien
Saturday, 6.10pm
‘For fuck’s sake,’ Liam muttered, pulling into the petrol station.
Ten minutes earlier
‘Please. Please,’ the girl begged.
Against his better judgement, Liam tapped the address into google, and took the cash.
‘Thank-you soooo much!’ she said, helping her inebriated friend into the car, before skipping back to the busy beer-garden.
‘You okay?’ Liam asked, watching his young passenger’s head wobble in the rear-view mirror.
In her defence – she did try to open the window. But the rainbow projectile flew with such force, it wouldn’t have made any difference.
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Blacksticks Blue by Robert Cutillo
The terraced house had a brown door, an unkempt garden, and a crooked gate. Weeds sprouted from the wonky paved path, and a torn plastic bag clung to a bare bush.
Michael stood before the gate, one hand in his jacket pocket, the other holding a plastic bag of his own, his eyes fixed on the front door.
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After the Fall by Dianne Willems
“Let’s have intercourse.”
“…excuse me?”
She trailed her fingers over the wooden table. Bought at some drift store a million years ago, for a buck and a half. He still liked it – a memory.
“Listen”, she said, “let’s face it. The marriage is dead. There’s nothing for us to do anymore. Except intercourse.”
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Out of His League by Gerald Coleman
“Love is a zero-sum game. Pretty much.”
– Billy Olsen
When Billy Olsen first saw her, he behaved oddly, like a Cubist painting tumbling down a staircase.
It was Tuesday evening. The Parrot Lounge’s sole décor statement was a stuffed parrot in a cage hanging from the ceiling below a light bulb in cigarette smoke. It was not the place to take a date nor find a snug corner to brood in—too much light, too loud, substandard bar food, and flat pitchers of beer.
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Catty by Ian Douglas Robertson
I once dated a girl who was a good friend of Baron Pizza King’s daughter and she told me this sad but enlightening tale.
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