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The Prophecy of Miss Branch
- University of Massachusetts Press
- Chapter
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40 The Prophecy of Miss Branch She said many things that were false and I never claimed she was beautiful except when her face was reflected in the pond. But her voice constantly woke me to things I thought were taboo, the pleasure of being hurt, of hurting back. The first night with her I remember hearing my neighbor’s short wave radio, wondering if the high pitched noises were spirits falling into something bigger than themselves, and the next morning she wore a low cut blouse to show off the bruises I gave her. She said locusts were the cursed angels God banishes to be crushed beneath our feet. I found evil like that parasitic, grotesque. I asked her, why scars, why do I have scars and she said so God can recognize you by your suffering, though I knew sometimes it comes so fast He can’t possibly see. She made me feel things other than fear as though plague were a boy I could lure into my car with sticky sweets, smother him in the backseat. We’d bury him with pictures of our friends so if he woke up he’d kill them first. ...