RachelVB.com

Author: rachelvb

  • Inked at birth

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    rachelvb
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    I was dark-washed in ink when I was born. And no one saw, not my mother, no nurse. My father recognized the oil sinking in, but couldn’t understand what it was, he couldn’t understand what it was in himself, to protect me. It seeped through soft, porous skin, found my chest and settled:  lay suction…

  • Egg Keeper

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    rachelvb
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    This morning I had a dream I was standing next to a barren tree watching a hummingbird prune on a branch near my ear. She was dark dark green, the sky was falling. I watched her hop to a nest above my head, set upon two chopstick branches. It was a small bowl of grass…

  • Hoppy Halidays

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    rachelvb
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  • Bull Horn

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    rachelvb
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    A few days ago, I walked past one of the many giant glass buildings with marble floors and revolving doors. Security guards looked out in amusement at the small group of protesters that had amassed – a taunting “You won’t ever get in here” hand on their hips. It’s a mining company, the corporate office,…

  • The weight of a messenger bag

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    rachelvb
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    “You should stand up straight,” a bald man said as I passed him on the sidewalk this morning. He kept looking back and forth like a security camera, staring at people to the point of swallowing. My green messenger bag has become a bookshelf and each morning I go through my apartment picking which ones…

  • But a friend of mine says it good to hear/ that you believe in love even if set in fear.

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    rachelvb
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    (I think my flash is old at work, so I hope this shows up properly) “Goodbye England (Covered In Snow)” by Laura Marling (the greatest 22 year old I pretend to know) You were so smart then, in your jacket and coat. My softest red scarf was warming your throat. Winter was on us, at…

  • Chapter One

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    rachelvb
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    I have a section dropping tonight, but I don’t want to work on it. I don’t want to start. I don’t want to puzzle together recipes and cutlines and fix widows and worry about cramming all those words into such a small space. I don’t give a shit about dog legs today. I want to…

  • Words of widsom

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    rachelvb
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    Person who wishes to remain anonymous: If you want to be a better writer you’re going to have to pull it out of you. It’s in there. You just have to pull it out. It’s in your guts. Maybe even in your poop. Me: I don’t want to dig around in my own poop. PWWTRA:…

  • Our children

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    rachelvb
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    They released his name. 24 years old. He’s on Facebook with 115 friends, likes the video game Mass Effect and Guns and Roses and The 39 steps. He wore black sunglasses, a winter beenie, it looked cold were he was in the photo, he looked up and off into the distance at something no one…

  • All those children

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    rachelvb
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    Have you seen the news? Those poor kids, how horrifying and parents around the newsroom are talking about how they tell their elementary-aged and younger children to always “stay with your teacher, stay with your teacher. I don’t think he understands me, but I always tell him that.” WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH PEOPLE?!…