Rumpus Original Fiction: The Barbecue
Up close, the beach was disgusting and tragic. A million tiny pieces of plastic were heaped on the shore like confetti from a hundred parades, or like the real sand on the beach threw up. ...more
Posts Tagged: injury
Safety Nets: On Seeing Movies with My Children
There’s no blueprint for any of this. If there were, I would have read it by now. ...more
The Night Faerie
We were all free-falling, and there was no one, nothing, to catch us. ...more
Ursa Major
Last month a bear ripped into my tent, clenched his teeth onto my upper left arm, just below my shoulder, and would not let go. ...more
Odysseus at Telepylos
Jason had his dragon at Colchis, Theseus had his Minotaur on Crete, Odysseus had his cannibals in their city of Telepylos, and you will have found your own monsters in Philadelphia. ...more
Women with Facial Scars
In flaws, there’s always a story. Mine is twofold. ...more
No Way Out at the Welfare Office
How can it be that the system—the one you paid into for twenty-plus years— doesn’t have remedies for people like you—normally highly employable, but momentarily in need of assistance? ...more
The Sunday Rumpus Essay: Fall
We are always falling, all the time, under the sway of one another, in and out of love. ...more