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Sent

It seemed that someone had died, but really it was part of us.

Shallow Sea

“Dorm whores” his roommate calls them. They come for the booze.

Shapes

The shapes called them bastard loads. The lazy creations of fools.

Shattered

He had dreamed of being a front-runner, someone who changed lives.

Shelf Space

I read cookbooks the way I do poetry, with a willingness to be transported.

Shiny Things

“Make it look like you’re working on a nearby shelf,” Aunt Mary whispered.

Shirley Hazzard

We have mysterious inclinations. No one can explain it to us.

Shitbird

He’d been lost and tripping vividly on some speckled acid for days.

Shotgun Lovesongs

He was living like a coyote, out on the margins. But then a letter came.

Shy

All my life, I’d been shy, and I wasn’t about to change that.

Silas

Out by the road was her son standing without a stitch of clothing.

Silk & Silk

She was the idiot who fell in love with some high-class gigolo.

Sin Vergüenza

He felt desperate for the rains, mosquitoes be damned.

Since the Accident

Since the accident she lost her hold on the world and never got it back.

Single Lens Reflex

She imagines his clothes on the floor, his arms wrapped around her waist.

Site Visits

The grass is always greener in the cemetery, was a joke I made to Jed.

Sky Tumbling Down

The clearest memory was when his father shot a grizzly.

Sleepy

Hearing the baby’s cry, Varka finds the enemy who is crushing her heart.

Smoke Days

Teddy, the new sous chef, is on fire again. It’s the second time in a week. I make a silent promise to myself never to have sex on a beach, not even with Ryan Gosling.

Smoke Jumpers

He probably had an order. Ludes, Dexis, Black Birds—who knew.

So You’re Thinking of Getting an MFA . . .

If you’re going to take a degree, take one from the best school you can.

Soldier’s Joy

I could shoot you and nobody would say boo. I’m within my rights.

Solo Notes

This has been a good day. First the milestone of getting to page 300.

Someone Else Besides You

The sight of her belly ring and the smooth, tight canopy of flesh.

Somewhere with a Sigh

Does he not see our likeness? Fursten seemed to see nothing.

Song

Ahab went mad when he saw the sea is just the sea and nothing more.

Song of the Old Mother

Their days go over in idleness, and they sigh if the wind but lift a tress.

Speaking American

Poetry isn’t work, he said, unless you’re talking about reading it.

Spelunk

I looked up from the cave floor to see a guy pointing a handgun at us.

Sport

Both dogs were barking now—their barking urgent, hysterically pitched.