She Builds Her House Around My Body – Marianne Peel

Posted on by bobcabkings

Getting a trim

Brave & Reckless

My mother’s hands scurry
through the junk drawer
searching for the scissors.
Dull blades. Yellow handles.

She corners me
in the bathroom. Bends me
over the sink, my back pressed
over the edge. Formica.

Scrubbed with Pine Sol.
The fumes dizzy me. Disorient
me, blades brandished
toward my bangs. 

She has no level.  No bowl
to chop around.  Just her cataract eyes,
blurred, to maneuver the shears.
the room begins to gyrate, spiral down. 

I am teetering. Muddied with vertigo.
My mouth plugged with cotton balls.  My ears
stuffed with cotton swabs. My eyes pressed shut.  I tell her
I am going to faint.  That I will disintegrate onto the immaculate
linoleum.  Cleanliness is next to godliness, she always told me. 
We could eat off this floor. She always told me.

And then a surge of steel. A blaze of blade.
And I am gone.  

 

Photo by Matt Artz on

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Raise Hell: Remembering Molly Ivins

Posted on by bobcabkings

Calico Jack remembers a voice we both miss.

The Psy of Life

On 31 January 2007, Molly Ivins died of breast cancer, but who can say it wasn’t a combination of Reagan cynical folksy appeal to the inner racist of the white voter, Clinton’s move to the “center” read that Republicanism, and Dubya’s meteoric rise fueled by sheer stupidity? It was as much the stress and strain of lampooning the wretched naked self-serving grasping Texas and national politics as it divided the nation and began the long sinking of our republic into the vast consuming sea of authoritarianism. Who wasn’t be driven to drink living through those times?

Her life was a cautionary tale for all of us to follow: fight the good fight, but take care of yourself so you can continue on. Between her and Ann Richards (died 13 September 2006), we lost two powerful liberal voices in very conservative Texas who could disarm and charm with their humor and…

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Whaz Up!?! Free the Wife and Free the Bears!

Posted on by bobcabkings

Calico Jack – Photos, links, and more

The Psy of Life

Howdy y’all!

ICYMI: This Week’s Posts

Ye Olde Blogge has been exploring the demise of our democracy. Our first post looks at just how burned out we all are.

How can we cope with our national burnout so we can #SaveOurDemocracy?

Are We Too Burned Out to #SaveOurDemocracy

The second post this week was about the changes that will take place should the #GOPDystopia actually come to be.

What will living in the #GOPDystopia be like?

We’d Know If We Were Living in a Minority-Rule Autocracy, right? Maybe Not, If You’re White.

Another eventful week at Ye Olde Blogge has drawn to a close. There’s plenty to discuss and share and I do hope to hear about your week in the comments. Here’s some of what I remember happening this week:

  • SAINT FRANCIS DE SALES. I can’t believe that the patron saint of blogging’s holy day came and went without being acknowledged on Ye Olde Blogge. Oh well. Maybe next year. Anywho, for those keeping track at home it is…

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