THE CONVEYANCE OF SOUND
First published in The Hudson Review
I turned toward Tommy, sitting at the end of the examining table, his white-sheathed arms wrapped around himself in an involuntary embrace.
“What happened?” I said. My voice echoed in the bare room.
He looked down at his dangling feet, the only limbs still free. He moved them aimlessly as if he were sitting on a dock, cooling his toes in the water. He acted like he belonged here, like it wasn’t all a mistake. But it had to be. ...
TANGIBLE ASSETS
First Published in Alaska Quarterly Review
Anthologized in Gravity Dancers, edited by Richard Peabody (Paycock Press)
This is how the argument goes: I do what I think is best, and my mother sighs, rolls her eyes, taps her fingers. We get along fine.
We live in different places: my mother and father in Tucson, and I in Seattle. I live in Seattle because it’s everything Tucson is not: wet, green, and full of surprises.
This is my job: I find people who make art. You can’t find these people just anywhere. They don’t advertise, and they’re often amused at my interest. They’re just doing what they do. Some of them are woodworkers. Others construct things out of matchsticks. Others, out of junk. Some make sculptures out of farm implements, lawn furniture, toys, buttons. Outsider art, they call it. I bring it Inside. ...
IMAGINARY FRIENDS
First published in Iowa Woman