Bought my first Jeep on a Friday in March. I know the precise date of that infamous Friday because I’m a teacher. On that day, I put a red bin of files and papers into my silver-new Jeep. Admin promised we’d return to the classroom. But I blinked. And opened my eyes far, far away.Continue reading “Dear Jeep Family,”
Tag Archives: creative nonfiction
Don’t Ever Tell Anybody Anything (But Here’s My Introduction)
I left home. I won’t tell where. Yet. I was born there. Parents, grandparents, too. I never left home. Not even for school. I raised family, worked hard, planned to die there. I had no reason to leave home. Until the day I heard the words, “You won’t like this.” I did not imagine leavingContinue reading “Don’t Ever Tell Anybody Anything (But Here’s My Introduction)”
To the Bullshit-Detector
I see a lot of you in my daughter. It terrifies me. You have an exceptional bullshit-detector. So does she. Of course, any observer could guess this from the way you reclined in your desk, like Jimi Hendrix on a sofa at an intimate house party (your lidded gaze and smirk suggested the same kindContinue reading “To the Bullshit-Detector”
To the One Made of Bronze-Wool
Dear student, My class didn’t come easy for you. I’m not sure much of school did. When you reached for the answer to a question, it looked like someone reaching for tweezers dropped between the driver’s seat and car console. The kind of stretch that indicates visibility of the object, even the fingering of it,Continue reading “To the One Made of Bronze-Wool”
To the Geo Tracker of the USA: Guess Which State This Is
I swore, at the age of twenty-five, I would never return. Ever. Even as an adult, when I overhear the name, or the two-letter abbreviation, I thrust myself into conversation and proclaim, “[Insert State] is the limp dick of the USA!” That is, until, my husband sat me down at the table and said, ”You’reContinue reading “To the Geo Tracker of the USA: Guess Which State This Is”
To the Off-Beaten-Never-Did-Fit-In
I remember the look on your face when I announced my leave of absence to the class. It still haunts me. You waited until the end, mouth stretched wide, “Are you really leaving?” I explained it was only temporary. You shuffled locks, looked away, “But…I like how you use the earth to tell stories….” youContinue reading “To the Off-Beaten-Never-Did-Fit-In”
For Our Favorite Pinch-Sitter,
In order to illustrate the gift you are to this earth, I’m going to take a crack at writing a children’s story. Sorry there’s no artwork. My drawing is more horrific than my poetry. *** On a hill in a flowered field I found a wishing tree. Like a firework in the sky, its branches exploded inContinue reading “For Our Favorite Pinch-Sitter,”
Dear [Insert State], Merry Friggin’ Christmas.
I don’t mean to cuss. It’s not becoming of a teacher. But I swore never return to [insert state]. EVER. That is until…well, you’ve read my other pieces. But here I am, decades later, unable to leave, being held against my will. What gives? [Insert state] must be mad I told everyone what Renee saidContinue reading “Dear [Insert State], Merry Friggin’ Christmas.”
Yo, Ride-share Driver, No Hablo Español
Flip left and right to understand. Excuse the broken language; I stopped studying long ago, but I did my damndest not to rely on a translator. Quiero escribir una carta auténtica, a pesar de la barrera del idioma. Yo, Rideshare Driver, No Hablo Español. You remember me from the airport. From the backseat, I attackedContinue reading “Yo, Ride-share Driver, No Hablo Español”
To the Driver of a Subaru (maybe),
I’ve been getting pretty close to giving up. This writing thing is tough, and, well, I’m a dinosaur. I don’t understand the media-socials. I tried emailing important people, pleaded with writers in groups, I created a twitter account to send direct messages (but then got locked out); hell, I even dropped a note in aContinue reading “To the Driver of a Subaru (maybe),”
No Real Balance 