Last time, that was nice, all of us there, and her sat sidewayson a chair, short of breath after bringing out the yams, a slabin their thick pyrex. And the last time I saw Michael nakedwas nice because I noted the color of his skin—cream with onetablespoon of coffee stirred in, that . . .
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“A pleasant month of June was drawing to a close when Enric Espol showed up with a bandaged hand, his fist clenched beneath the gauze. He was clearly changed in many respects, which gave rise to speculation, but no one could possibly imagine the scale of the wallop that had bowed him.”—from . . .
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“Ry-sur-Andelle, in Normandy, has one claim to fame: it has been described as a possible model for the fictional village of Yonville-l’Abbaye in Gustave Flaubert’s celebrated 1857 novel of adultery and provincial life, Madame Bovary.”—from “The Pharmacist’s Dream”, Fall 2018 (Vol. 59, Issue 3) Tell us about one of the first pieces you . . .
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Can I stop a dog from gnawing its tail?you ask. Save a child from blindness? Rescuea meadow? You want to understand yourrange of motion. You will face rogue rivers,scheming mosquitoes, rice shortages. Notto mention surgeons with unsteady hands.—from “Welcome to Guardian Angel School,” Fall 2018 (Vol. 59, Issue 3) Tell us about one . . .
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Tonight, even the frogsare out there, discoursing to darkness,regurgitating air, getting it said.They too are turning the embarrassingnecessities of flesh into a kind of music,they too are instruments of the invisible,some unpleased power that would settlefor limp skin just to preserve itself.—from “All This Fiddle,” Fall 2018 (Vol. 59, Issue 3) Tell . . .
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1. Discuss: The Greeks said it all: As with thyme—the scent of Greeks speaking Time,breathing thyme, which grows evenwhen walked upon. On its own, spreads.—from “The Test: Western Civilization”, Fall 2018 (Vol. 59, Issue 3) Tell us about one of the first pieces you wrote.My 4th grade teacher had E. E. Cumming’s “[in Just-]” . . .
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Your back is your voice it speaks volumes.It is telling me I cannot see what I hear coming from in front of you.From in front of the circle of backs yours is a part of.What is happening?Is there a body?Is it attached to these sounds of a body in pain?—from “Ownership of . . .
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He could never trust a thing, he says,that bleeds for seven days and doesn’tdie. Ha. Just a joke, he says. Lighten up.Ha. By this red he tries to read me rightbetween the eyes.—from “Portrait of the Woman as Blood”, Fall 2018 (Vol. 59, Issue 3) Tell us about one of the first . . .
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Wolf throat, words pacebut don’t exit the mouth. The man in the officeacross the hall is going bear hunting this weekend. All I want to do is jump on the bear’s backand keep my . . .
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October 29, 2018 This interview took place on the telephone on December 22, 1986. Originally published in the Winter 1987 (Vol. 28, no. 4) issue of the Massachusetts Review. BRENDA LYONS: Colored Girls raised a furor in the 70s. In addition to much acclaim and many awards, you were attacked as a traitor to your . . .
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