RachelVB.com

Category: wandering mind

  • David Biespiel's 10 things successful poets do

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    rachelvb
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    DAVID BIESPIEL’S POETRY WIRE: 10 THINGS SUCCESSFUL POETS DO BY DAVID BIESPIEL 10. They Get Over Themselves Yehuda Amichai says, “I think when you’re a poet you have to forget you’re a poet — a real poet doesn’t draw attention to the fact he’s a poet. The reason a poet is a poet is to…

  • It's ALIIIIIVE!!!!!

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    rachelvb
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    Some of you may recognize parts of this one. It was partially born here on the blog. But today, with a little tweaking, it’s reborn on Cease, Cows (an awesome flash fiction lit mag). I’m so so excited they accepted this one. This was the quickest acceptance I’ve ever had – 2 days! They got…

  • Raising an army

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    The beldams are out today shuffling their carts. Maroon smocks, pointy hats and gloves. The desert cold slows hands to wish bones, easily broken. Their men are dead. Of course, they’ve outlived them. They wear Christ around their necks. Yell fears to each other across benches because whispers haven’t registered since they gave a damn.…

  • Digital clutter

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    rachelvb
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    My website is a time bomb. I’ve been watching is count down for a few months now and still haven’t done anything about it. Every so often I’ll get an email from my site saying “at 99.9% capacity” HELP ME! I’m fat and full and you’re a terrible creator, lazy lazy woman. But I don’t…

  • Natural habitat

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    It’s one of those rare mornings where it’s raining. I know people flying in and out or visiting probably think “what the hell, I came to Phoenix and it’s not sunny?” But we’re getting a weekend of rain and I couldn’t be more at peace. Tonight we’re having some friends over. I’m making Smoked Chicken…

  • Incendiary

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    I’ve seen birds die this way: half in the desert’s mouth, half out; stagnant air so hot every gasp requires a respirator pumping their beaks open shut. A bum on the train rocks: his eyes closed, shoes off gasping with that same desperation while fans malfunction overheating obligations to save him. Smelling sweat is the…

  • Do you understand?

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    “I’ve been here two years, but spent one in the hospital.” A mangled woman presses flyaways against here head. The grease holds them. She sips soda from a McDonald’s cup, but if there’s anything my dad taught me fast food cups are good camouflage for alcohol, so she sips something cold keeping her warm. A…

  • Winter is beginning and ending

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    I’ve been so closed off. And I know it. I’ve been afraid to rip myself open, to write on bone. Maybe not so much afraid as tired. I’ve been tired and missing a spark. Perhaps this has been my winter. In a climate that has few seasons, my body still creates them. Trees grow around…

  • Ugly truths

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    What happens when you really let someone go? Really let someone go, not just moving across the country or unfriending them on (ugh) Facebook, but when you really begin to purge their presence in your body; the memories, smells, clothes that no longer fit so they gifted to you? I’ve been trying at night, when…

  • So I haven't been here…

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    rachelvb
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    because this took over my entire dining room table for about a month: Which is entirely made out of card stock and a little burlap and a little cork. But I’ve also been training for digital design and also designing a holiday cookbook and also designing the same cookbook in iPad/digital form and also doing…