by Larry Smith
read closely.
—Kristina Grish
Ran east, ran west, ran late.
—Susie Smith
Will draw for
food and coffee.
—Molly Crabapple
Most Turkish Kurd, most
Kurdish Turk.
—Yasar Kemal
Tall, dark, handsome:
Single, content, uncommunicative.
—Mark Grace
Do as say, not as
did.
—Emily Gordon
Good, evil use the
same font.
—Arthur Harris
Detergent girl:
Bold. Tide. Cheer. All.
—Martha Clarkson
Never a bridesmaid;
always a bride.
—Anne Allisoni
I fell out of the nest.
—Jason Logan
More than yesterday,
less than tomorrow.
—Nichiren Nahuel Palombo
I don’t nibble. I bite. Hard.
—Matthew Torres
Open road, no map.
Great Scenery.
—Tom Gabbay
Maybe you had
to be there.
—Roy Blount Jr.
Right brain working
left brain job.
—Dave Terry
Life behind a
microphone
gets lonely.
—Crystal Kash
Spent longing for
the seventh word.
—Ron Bel Bruno
Five continents down; two to go.
—Virginia Graham
Affection. Erection.
No protection.
Injection. Infection.
—Colleen Zachary
Speaks mind
especially
when losing it.
—Ellis Reid
He knew her bruises would fade.
—Colin Stanton
Indeterminate.
Not enough data for conclusion.
—Ian Grant
Tunneling underground, lured deep by
ghosts.
—Danielle Trussoni
I got herpes, in my pants.
—Daniel Moyer
Veni, vidi,
but haven’t vici yet.
—Meenakshi Nandini
Hid for a while. Not anymore.
—Ginger Voight
I came, I saw, I concurred.
—Cris Anitsirhc
Afraid of mirrors,
too many marshmallows.
—Lihi Lasslo
Bought American Dream.
More like nightmare.
—Harry McCoy
I was concerned
about my obituary.
—James Dunn
Photograph by Sean Graff
Born red closet reborn SF queer.
—David Boyer
Youngest of four girls
turns fifty.
—Judi Kolenda
Saw the sky and
started walking.
—Mark Sundeen
Learned eventually,
Billy Crystal, not
Salinger.
—Ben Kaplan
Once born,
now old,
soon gone.
—Andre Vandal
We were married
in the snow.
—Polly and Andrew McLean
My life, in Mexico, is strange.
—Cosima Rose
Awkward girl takes chances.
Fun ensues.
—Charlotte Riley
The light that night was perfect.
—Lara Swimmer
Better living through chemistry, sans
love.
—Greg Rainwater
I auditioned. I got the
part.
—Faith Hoffman
Entire story written
with quotidian nouns.
—Tim Batton
Losing your identity can be fearsome.
—Robyn Crawford
Giraffe born to a farm family.
—Grant Langston
Lived life,
playing metal,
went deaf.
—M. Kincaid
I write stories.
They come true.
—Rebecca Woolf
Struggling Southern eccentric
finding my happiness.
—Leigh Ann Apanites
Act two curtain brought
dramatic improvements.
—John Godfrey
Saw a glimpse,
should have risked.
—Lori Flaherty
Hey Red, order up! Chop!
Chop!
—Patty Griffin
Somehow, she lived
without an iPod.
—Jennifer Crouser
Last words,
our daughter,
too soon.
—Steve Allen
Killed. Loved.
Got high on everything.
—David Booth
Lonely, frothy kisses,
then only spite.
—Stephania Serena
Dead mom watching. I’ll be
good.
—Israel Hyman
Became more like myself
every year.
—Eddie Sulimirski
Rich in degrees
and student loans.
—Barb Piper
He was happy being a flasher.
—Fred Telegdy
Old and married.
Hot classmates. Sigh.
—Bill Johnson
Nerdy, wordy,
learned to shut up.
—Caren Lissner
Type A personality.
Type B capability.
—Keith Lang
High school dropout
but college graduate.
—Mary Beth Nalin
Dreamed of endless love.
Awoke alone.
—Mohammad Fatayerji
Adolescence, internet,
internet, internet, internet,
death.
—Josh Rosenfield
We were each other’s
favorite person.
—Montana diLemonada
Surname rhymes with profanity.
Childhood torture.
—Noah Smit
Must remember: people, gadgets.
That order.
—Brian Lam
Learned to live with great loss.
—Michele Wytko
Sex overrated.
Went and got castrated.
—Alex Warren
Occassionally wrong but
never in doubt.
—Layne Butler
Illiterate poet saw
far too much.
—Robert Strassburg
WASP wants to be
soul man.
—Scott Pratt
Me see world!
Me write stories!
—Elizabeth Gilbert
Alabama boy said hallalujah,
wrote memoirs.
—Paul Thornton
Normal female blogs
for a living.
—Sarah Weinman
Accidents cause people—
son is wonderful.
—Laurie Reinhart
Impoverished black male.
Harvard Law bound.
—Robert Young
Leaving:
I toss blame like grenades.
—Tanya Jarrett
Born ready, bad eyes and all.
—Hua Hsu
Thought long and hard.
Got migraine.
—Lisa Levy
Ten strikes against me,
hit homerun.
—Maxine Jennings
Despite disorders, jafroed
jewboy gets girl.
—Michael Eisner
Older orphan,
&nb
sp; creates family with friends.
—Theresa Neinas
That Kiss song says it all.
—James Hampton
I can resist everything
except temptation.
—Carolina Conte
Should have risked asking,
he sighed.
—Gino Serdena
Here: Macaca! There: American!
Where, beloved?
—Mitali Perkins
Never should’ve done that first
line.
—Joshua MacPhetridge
Adopted?
Are you
fucking
shitting
me?
—Darius Logan
Traveling the road,
writing science fiction.
—Henry Melton
Hard to write poems from prison.
—Ellen Goldstein
Born in abject obscurity;
never escaped.
—James Blum
Friends all Jewish.
I’m merely neurotic.
—Brian Mahon
Suburban Christian child.
Hippie agnostic adult.
—Shannon Barnes
Writing and drawing
brought me here.
—Gabrielle Bell
Alaskan hippie kid.
Escaped via Ph.D.
—Melanie Brewer
Clumsy girl found adventure.
Also, bruises.
—Rebecca Campbell
Jury believed me; prison awaits him.
—Jessica Yu
Realized childhood dream doesn’t pay
bills.
—Nicole Williams
Mostly waited for the big stuff.
—Jennifer Smith
Taught lies.
Discovered truth.
Neither matters.
—Gautham Nagesh
Born into a life worth living.
—Cher Tushiah
Met Jesus early, then ran fast.
—Jessica Thompson
I’m not afraid of
anything anymore.
—Kathryn Hammond
The road diverged; I took it.
—Rachel Farris
Eight thousand orgasms.
Only one baby.
—Neal Pollack
Loved a man, then a woman.
—Kate Evans
Product of obscure
American colonial
ancestors.
—Randy Seaver
Brainy widowed sexpot
raises hell, kids.
—Jennifer Johnson
Wounded girl turns life into
stories.
—Farai Chideya
The militant who became a monk.
—Mike Adams
Born in Baghdad,
I said enough.
—Shwan Taha
Most successful accomplishments
based on spite.
—Scott Birch
Haunting dad,
spotlight mom,
retrieving marriage.
—Nell
Casey
She left Texas none too soon.
—Jen Worrell
Carries flask for
unsociable social events.
—Janina Williams
Illustration by Bob Salpeter
He wore dresses.
This caused messes.
—Josh Kilmer-Purcell
Man, slightly disgruntled,
may throw poo.
—Egan Fowler
It’s all about
me, isn’t it?
—Daniel Halpern
My memoir? You can’t be
serious.
—Dan Menaker
EDITOR. Get it?
—Kate Hamill
I always took the
joke too far.
—Thomas Hamill
Big nose, British chicken legs: beautiful!
—Jen Gabel
I will never be quite
finished.
—J. P. Hoban
Learning disability, MIT.
Never give up.
—Joe Keselman
Glory developing vital
loving
fighting life.
—Josh Lucas
Just a rockin’ read-
in’
knittin’ kitten.
—Emmeline Friedman
Looking to know everything
about everything.
—Tor Andersen
Philosophical teen,
surrounded but sometimes lonely.
—Nehemiah Blazek
Retired music teacher enjoys life’s symphonies.
—Caroline Baker
Liked by all. Known by few.
—Zell Williams
Age eleven:
became a middle child.
—Matt Farrell
Dad wore leather pants in Reno.
—John Falk
Searchable Terms
Note: Entries in this index, carried over verbatim from the print edition of this title, are unlikely to correspond to the pagination of any given e-book reader. However, entries in this index, and other terms, may be easily located by using the search feature of your e-book reader.
Adoption, 86, 201
Age, 1, 6, 37, 49, 51, 57, 58, 67, 79, 80, 83, 87, 99, 106, 138, 154, 213, 215
Animals, 6, 13, 70, 147, 158, 160
Art, 20, 47, 52, 58, 59, 69, 86, 108, 139, 147, 179, 203
Babies, 1, 13, 20, 35, 42, 43, 93, 113, 114, 146, 170, 198, 207, 217
Babies, twins and triplets, 90, 98, 111, 115
Booze, 2, 19, 22, 23, 59, 60, 77, 84, 89, 114, 133, 142, 146, 160, 168, 209
Breakin’ up is hard to do, 47, 128, 138, 165
Broken bones, 98, 104, 151, 158
Can’t count, 60, 119, 159, 211
Cancer, 50, 86, 132
Catholic, 1, 115, 171,
Characters, real and fictional, 59, 77, 87, 105, 107, 123, 130, 133, 144, 161, 176, 187
Cheaters, 5, 60, 87, 118
Childhood, 16, 18, 26, 30, 40, 42, 46, 79, 173, 195, 202, 204, 210, 217
Circus, 100, 134
City, State, Country, 2, 8, 11, 14, 30, 31, 36, 39, 40, 44, 66, 70, 74, 79, 80, 83, 84, 92, 93, 113, 115, 117, 121, 125, 129, 136, 148, 156, 157, 158, 171, 172, 187, 189, 191, 198, 204, 209
Coffee, 7, 33, 67, 142, 179
Crushes, 8, 10
Daddy issues, 5, 27, 31, 39, 76, 118, 143, 146, 177, 209, 214
Dancing, 15, 25, 50, 134, 158, 165
Death, 5, 31, 37, 45, 51, 54, 76, 83, 97, 99, 107, 118, 133, 138, 155, 160, 192, 193, 195, 216
Debt, 9, 10, 16, 63, 193, 217
Diseases, disabilities, and afflictions, 2, 22, 36, 44, 50, 80, 90, 92, 98, 120, 130, 177, 183, 184, 212, 215
Divorce, 66, 80, 87, 90, 109, 154
Dreams, 6, 20, 31, 49, 54, 142, 165, 186, 195, 204,
Drugs, 1, 49, 76, 81, 87, 93, 97, 101, 165, 172, 178, 200
Escape artists, 11, 39, 77, 84, 97, 100, 202, 204, 209
Ex-cons, 28, 70, 81, 102, 135, 202
Fame, 16, 38, 132, 147, 168, 174
Family, 4, 10, 11, 13, 27, 31, 114, 136, 155, 161, 190, 199
Fat, 44, 62, 89, 186
Fear, 42, 44, 45, 153, 186, 205, 217
Fifty, 37, 57, 80, 187, 216
Food, 28, 32, 33, 48, 60, 62, 67, 84, 85, 106, 109, 111, 123, 127, 146, 154, 158, 168, 170, 179, 192
Friends, 5, 86, 138, 199, 202
Fries, 33, 106
Fuck and shit, 35, 51, 68, 121, 139, 143, 201
Gay, 4, 8, 11, 30, 31, 53, 54, 68, 84, 89, 93, 100, 113, 117, 122, 143, 146, 150, 187, 208, 210
Glasses, 12, 94, 150
Hair, 1, 18, 36, 60, 94, 97, 107, 111, 121, 136, 178, 199, 218
Happy, 5, 16, 32, 46, 50, 83, 90, 110, 123, 146, 191, 194, 215
Higher ed, 1, 9, 10, 14, 23, 35, 46, 87, 115, 193, 194, 198, 204,
212
Hippies, 43, 47, 202, 204
Hobbies, 53, 89, 94, 107, 212
I won’t grow up, 14, 16, 62
Infertility, 114, 146
Internet, 19, 35, 154, 155, 170, 174, 195, 198
Jewish, 9, 37, 44, 94, 118, 167, 177, 199, 202
Jobs, 3, 8, 11, 14, 16, 17, 18, 19, 27, 33, 60, 63, 74, 84, 89, 106, 116, 119, 134, 135, 138, 148, 172, 183, 211, 217
Law, 46, 74, 123, 129, 138, 172, 198
Lonely, 68, 86, 175, 183, 193, 213
Lost, 4, 5, 14, 37, 44, 54, 56, 74, 80, 81, 166
Love, 5, 20, 30, 35, 42, 54, 62, 66, 86, 89, 90, 93, 97, 99, 100, 102, 109, 127, 139, 140, 144, 155, 160, 177, 193, 195, 208, 218
Luck, 20, 62, 77, 89, 118, 133, 177
Marriage, 5, 8, 22, 23, 26, 30, 49, 51, 53, 54, 63, 64, 66, 71, 75, 93, 96, 97, 109, 114, 115, 166, 181, 191, 209, 217
Masturbation, 59, 97
Mental health, 31, 40, 46, 50, 76, 86, 87, 94, 129, 132, 133, 150, 157, 202
Mistakes, 18, 105, 143, 218
Money, 4, 66, 97, 151, 204
Monks, 31, 208
Multi-culti, 70, 71, 81, 89, 96, 100, 117, 125, 150, 158, 163, 166, 180, 196, 200
Music, 46, 71, 73, 102, 109, 113, 126, 142, 143, 151, 200, 213
My mom, 5, 6, 27, 31, 44, 49, 50, 76, 83, 109, 113, 118, 130, 193, 209
Names, 16, 20, 77, 84, 133, 148, 157, 176
Near-death experiences, 37, 93, 97
Nerdy, 5, 13, 30, 33, 35, 64, 72, 96, 139, 142, 194
Obits and tombstones, 8, 117, 186
Parenting, 2, 26, 33, 44, 53, 55, 57, 59, 86, 93, 94, 105, 107, 110, 118, 125, 138, 148, 208, 217
Perfection, 62, 139, 189
Pets, 29, 44, 45, 83, 90, 114, 170
Politics, 43, 72, 106, 161
Poo, 35, 36, 51, 211
Quietude, 1, 10, 31, 99, 105, 150, 152, 170
Readin‘ and writin‘, 3, 5, 8, 9, 12, 19, 35, 43, 49, 54, 60, 63, 72, 73, 77, 83, 87, 92, 110, 113, 114, 115, 122, 127, 132, 134, 136, 139, 140, 157, 161, 170, 172, 174, 177, 178, 194, 196, 197, 198, 202, 203, 212, 216
Regret, 8, 9, 26, 31, 36, 105, 152, 200
Reinvention, 9, 13, 19, 44, 51, 56, 67, 153
Religion—losin’ it, 9, 23, 54, 59, 93, 115, 118, 143, 161, 202, 205
Religion—lovin’ it, 14, 37, 43, 59, 75, 161, 216