In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:

52 What Then Not฀now฀was฀what฀my฀mother฀said,฀always said,฀every฀day฀said฀like฀a฀bagel฀left฀on฀the฀shelf or฀seven฀boxes฀of฀paper฀clips.฀I฀remember it฀was฀a฀late฀afternoon฀after฀school,฀after the฀lethargic฀bus฀filled฀with฀sweat฀and฀hair and฀those฀spiral฀notebooks฀that฀had฀a฀Panther on฀the฀cover฀had฀hauled฀the฀day’s฀time฀back to฀snacks:฀Zebra฀Cakes,฀cheese฀twirls,฀jelly donuts,฀Coke,฀milk,฀Ding฀Dongs.฀It฀was on฀one฀of฀those฀rides฀not฀now฀took฀over and฀my฀hands฀went฀deep฀into฀my฀pockets, and฀I฀knew฀there฀was฀no฀place฀God could฀be฀alone฀and฀no฀place฀I฀could฀go and฀no฀place฀I฀could฀play฀catch or฀bake฀a฀fish฀sandwich฀or฀lay฀cement. The฀stars฀were฀as฀close as฀they฀would฀ever฀get, and฀the฀leaves฀on฀every฀tree฀had฀no฀idea they฀were฀on฀a฀tree฀like฀the฀way฀the฀moon kept฀changing฀through฀each฀month even฀when฀it฀rose฀over฀Ted’s฀Garage, like฀a฀bicycle฀left฀out฀under฀a฀bridge. So,฀I฀sat฀out฀on฀the฀back฀porch and฀imagined฀I฀was฀on฀the฀back฀porch and฀half-expected฀the฀house฀to฀stay where฀it฀was฀while฀my฀mother฀tucked the฀sheets฀around฀my฀pillow฀and฀smoothed the฀covers฀after฀I฀made฀the฀bed.฀I฀knew 53 I’d฀turned฀out฀the฀light,฀but฀after฀that, the฀small฀bones฀in฀my฀wrist฀seemed like฀words฀that฀had฀no฀idea฀what฀sentence they฀were฀in,฀and฀my฀eyes฀just฀looked฀out over฀the฀long฀slow฀green฀of฀the฀backyard. ...

Share