I Wanted To Be The Moron Of

If I Shut My Eyes, I Believed, I Would Disappear. To Make It Through, I Had To Be Present The Whole Time.

Inside The Snow Globe On My Father's Desk, There Was A Penguin Wearing A Red-and-white-striped Scarf. When I Was Little My Father Would Pull Me Into His Lap And Reach For The Snow Globe. He Would Turn It Over, Letting All The Snow Collect On The Top, Then Quickly Invert It. The Two Of Us Watched The Snow Fall Gently Around The Penguin. The Penguin Was Alone In There, I Thought, And I Worried For Him. When I Told My Father This, He Said, "don't Worry, Susie; He Has A Nice Life. He's Trapped In A Perfect World.

Part Of The Creative Process For Me Is An Invitation For Readers To Follow Their Imagination.

Almost Everyone In Heaven Has Someone On Earth They Watch, A Loved One, A Friend Or Even A Stranger Who Was Once Kind, Who Offered Warm Food Or A Bright Smile When One Of Us Had Needed It. And When I Wasn’t Watching I Could Hear The Others Talking To Those They Loved On Earth: Just As Fruitlessly As Me, I’m Afraid. A One-sided Card Cajoling And Coaching Of The Young, A One Way Loving And Desiring Of Their Mates, A Single-sided Card That Could Never Get Signed.

I Tried To Take Solace In Holiday, Our Dog. I Missed Him In A Way I Hadn't Yet Let Myself Miss My Mother And Father, My Sister And Brother. That Way Of Missing Would Mean That I Had Accepted That I Would Never Be With Them Again; It Might Sound Silly But I Didn't Believe It, Would Not Believe It.