Body of Words
Standing at the pool’s edge, he planted his eyes on the V-shape of my body where my legs met at my hips, where I felt the water drip. I saw his brown irises turn hard and hungry.
Posts by tag
fathers and daughters
223 posts
The Saturday Rumpus Essay: Reading Don Quijote with My Mother
“That’s the anthem I would have sung at my original graduation if the university had stayed open,” my mother said.
The Rumpus Interview with Sarah Tomlinson
Author Sarah Tomlinson talks about ghostwriting, her father and childhood, the tradition of confessional writing, and her new memoir, Good Girl.
OG Dad #24: Kiddie Calm
Days when my daughter hates me, I console myself that this may be a sign of her discerning nature.
The Saturday Rumpus Essay: Waiting for the Tape to Rewind
I started watching as if I were dropping by to say hello.
Out of the Swollen Sea
I think of a story I might write: about a daughter who loses her father to the sea. She grows progressively more melancholy; her dreams haunted by man-o-war, stingray, and poisonous rockfish.
The Sunday Rumpus Essay: We, the Crazy Ones
My childhood battle was already set in motion: to resist the vortex. To not go where he was trapped. To not trade his love for my life.
The Part of Stories One Never Quite Believes
And maybe that’s the ticket: grace. It was the year I expected harsh karma. But instead, I called my friends from the gutters of Hollywood and they picked me up. Every time.
Weekend Rumpus Roundup
First, Grant Snider considers New Year’s resolutions in his inimitable way. Then, Barbara Berman draws a connection between two recent poetry collections—famous German playwright Bertold Brecht’s posthumous Love Poems and The Book…
Being Like Him: Fathers, Daughters, and Sons in Boyhood
That scene at Antone’s plays out one of my biggest fears: that when women aren’t in the room, straight men shift their conversations.
Mac and Me
The last time I'd been to my father's grave was the previous winter, for the dedication ceremony for his headstone. The wind gusted, bone-cold, and I didn't stay long. I wondered if Dad brokered a deal with God to make the weather unpleasant just to get back at me.