12 Comments
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Mary's avatar

Yes, from a child's view of big people, it would be very confusing and scary and mixed up. You said it beautifully.

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Mary's avatar

I can imagine her inner turmoil.

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Sherman Alexie's avatar

Yeah, my empathy for her and fear of her blended

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Elena Solow's avatar

I loved Elvis. Hate the word apps and don’t havesirous radio or know what podcasts are. I’m still in Oaxaca. I like to hear your voice. Elena Solow full moon tonight.

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Sherman Alexie's avatar

What a great post! I’ll keep my voice heading your way!

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JB Minton 📺's avatar

"She was addicted / to the apocalyptic" is an Eminem-level inside rhyme. I adore it.

Two huge drops of news here in less than 3 minutes:

1. Fiction is coming🕺❤️‍🔥!

2. A podcast is coming🎙!

This 3 minutes just made my 24 hours!🙏🏻

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Sherman Alexie's avatar

I only noticed the addicted/apocalyptic rhyme after I’d written it. I write free verse but I love using rhyme.

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athnaz's avatar

Wow! This made me laugh and wince. Too familiar. Yikes. “Displays of ostentatious sadness. . .” Love it! Ohhhhhhh and “addicted to the apocalyptic”. Hilarious & painful. Reminds me of the line “I’m in mourning for my life” from Chekov’s grim comedy, The Seagull.

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athnaz's avatar

Maybe I’m cracked in the head because I found this poem funny and sad when perhaps it was meant to be just sad. The women in my family have a tendency to amplify everything—a kinda of blaring grief that deafens and so “display of ostentatious sadness” and “addicted to the apocalyptic grief” made me laugh and wince because it is just too damn familiar! And my grandmother made me watch Elvis movies with her when I was a kid. . .

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Sherman Alexie's avatar

Oh, humor is a complicated thing, right? Laughter sometimes comes with the surprise of being “seen,” or from breaking the rules and saying the forbidden thing.

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Sherman Alexie's avatar

Yeah, my siblings and I also had different emotional reactions. But it all led to running away.

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KJ's avatar

Hmm, yes. "We were accustomed," but my sister turned porous and absorbed it all while I developed Teflon skin.

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