From the Archive: The Saturday Rumpus Essay: DNA
Of course, maybe dividing the world into two kinds of people is just another way of making sure there is a crack in everything. When can you smooth out this fault line?
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Join NOW!Of course, maybe dividing the world into two kinds of people is just another way of making sure there is a crack in everything. When can you smooth out this fault line?
...moreI want to leave the party through the window and find my uncle standing on a piece of iron shaped into visible desperation, which must also be (how can it not?) the beginning of visible hope.
...moreI developed two books. One I called “The Gay Book,” and one I called “The North Dakota Book.” Well, those are the same book, as you can imagine.
...moreAfterward, there was dead silence in the kitchen. I know because I held my breath. Even air molecules seemed to still.
...more“Things can catch fire even when they let each other go. But we don’t give up. We don’t stop loving them.”
...moreYou might gasp. You might gasp and your heart slips out. You whisper and let red willows drift toward the river.
...moreI want to know more of what it is like to feel lost and not always have someone there to tell me how to find my way. Or, to tell me my way.
...moreNo word is wasted. No story is told in vain.
...moreThen there is the bathroom issue. My beloved is like me, like you, like anyone. Sometimes a person has to go.
...moreLet’s be clear: There is no hangover cure. Anyone who claims to have never had a hangover is either a) a liar, b) a teetotaler, or c) a responsible drinker. I’m none of those things, most days, despite effort, and the number of times I’ve searched for “how to cure a hangover” in the harsh light of a weekend morning is embarrassing the older I get, so manage your expectations.
...moreUsing opioids while maintaining my sobriety became a skill that I continued to develop over the following couple of years. The irony—finally becoming capable of moderating my drug use—was not lost on me.
...moreThere is still light in the dark. This is the paradox that Little Bear has to accept in order to fall asleep.
...more“So it’s a surprise to you—and not entirely a pleasant one—when you fall in love with someone who has a penis. You thought you’d set up defenses against the possibility, but here he is, and here you are, loving him.”
...moreIt’s always been ground glass, scraping against my insides. I imagine a light held to the place where I open would illuminate a mess of torn flesh, throbbing red-wet.
...moreI want them to know that heart work is hard work, but worth the struggle.
...moreI nearly got disowned over my decision not to pass on the family name.
...moreMy Filipino father refused to be upstaged by a white man’s lechon.
...moreThe only thing I can count on to be there tomorrow is my body. And yours.
...moreLet’s not pretend first means there’s a good place to start.
...moreThen again, I wonder if the distinct pleasure of Las Vegas lies in the simulacrum.
...moreMaybe the worst part about living with this is that it doesn’t leave me.
...moreI want a PhD in how to want, effortlessly, to be alive.
...more“We knew things were wrong then,” she says, “but we didn’t know how, or why.”
...moreI am an oracle who, while dispensing answers to all those who seek them, cannot predict my own future.
...moreStories need concrete details to help you understand, don’t they?
...moreThe life I had doesn’t flash like I see in movies. The life I want is what stares ahead.
...moreOnly peace. Wholeness will not happen for our generation.
...moreStaring at that profile picture, I couldn’t not click.
...moreAmy Fusselman discusses her new book, IDIOPHONE!
...more