Raveled See the kite assembled, tied, stretched taut on a bone frame, its colors a brazen flutter in a blue-white sky. See the kite coveted, owned, loved. New-toy perishable love. Kites are frustrating. Without wind, without a hand on the string they fall. See that. Or this: a dropped kite sliced by leafless branches, …
Author: GriffithsKL
Q is for Quacks
Quacks. I wish this were about ducks, but alas-- here is my post about funny farms, i.e., nut houses, psych wards, mental institutions, behavioral medicine centers (they sound nice). Funny farm is my mom's favorite designation. She has introduced me thus: "This is my daughter who put me in the funny farm." You could say …
P is for Perfectiosis
Perfectiosis. A disease that afflicts writers. Symptoms include but are not limited to the following: generalized anxiety, sweats, permanent worry lines on the forehead, permanent duck lips, muscle aches and pains, blurred vision, hair loss (self-inflicted), and ultimately death by defenestration, an option more appealing than hitting publish after spending an eternity on a piece …
O is for Optical Delusion
Optical Delusion "We all know he's going to set himself on fire one day," Robert said, throwing up his hands. He was sick to death of these department meetings. "So... what of it? They all set themselves on fire sooner or later," General Irri answered. "Exactly. Sooner or later we lose them all. I'd …
N is for Norman
I asked my high school writing class to complete a character draft, but I introduced a twist (I always introduce a twist). Each student received the worksheet with the same unfinished sentences. We began by filling out #1. Then we passed the paper to the right and filled out #2 and so on. What that …
M is for Missionaries
My sister and her husband have never been what you'd call traditional. For starters they were married on the Appalacian Trail-- during their thru-hike. Heather had real flowers woven into a crown, and the new couple walked under an arch of brightly colored hiking staffs, held up by the many friends they made along the …
K is for Katae
In a lineup of siblings, first-borns traditionally shoulder the heaviest burdens. Katae has always gracefully shouldered her world, praying that God would make her a good example, always considering her brothers and sister. In our home Katae would do what needed to be done; she'd find the holes and fill them; she'd enlist her siblings …
J is for Jesus
J has to be for Jesus because He's a game-changer. I used to think Bible thumpers were either 1. freaks or 2. recently lobotomized. It didn't help that my first lesson on organized religion was Jim Jones and his deadly Kool-Aide. I thought that feeling or showing any zeal for god would land me square …
I is for Invictus
The first words ever to move me were penned by William Earnest Henley just after his leg was amputated. "Invictus" was put on a screen in my 8th grade English classroom for a rhyme scheme lesson. I furiously copied every word, oblivious. Henley's words challenged my view of myself as a leaf in the wind. It …
H is for Homeschooling
H has to stand for homeschooling because we've been doing this gig for seventeen years. When we got on the homeschool road it was legal, but it was something only weirdos did. For us it was a grand experiment and had all the attendant insecurity of such. Now homeschooling is like breathing. The year we …
KL Griffiths 