From the Archives: Rumpus Original Fiction: Prescriptions
I wore sobriety like a shirt that was too tight in the shoulders, and everyone around me knew it.
...moreBecome a Rumpus Member
Join NOW!I wore sobriety like a shirt that was too tight in the shoulders, and everyone around me knew it.
...moreYou keep the edge of your love sharp, a knife, so that those close to you know to handle it carefully. You think you’ve done it and then you discover that you’ve been endangering yourself to everybody you meet all this time.
...moreThat was when she realized: the ticking was coming from inside herself.
...moreAirong’s voice was stern, matter-of-fact. “I’m pregnant.”
...more“What’s a six-letter word for ignoring truth,” she might say, without looking up from the puzzle.
...moreOf 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?
...moreThis is a carousel that never slows to a point where you can board gracefully.
...moreBefore they were married, they met in a photograph.
...moreAt the end of the week, which was long with sleepless nights, Miri picked her heart out of the kitchen sink, put it in a paper lunch bag, and took it to the witch.
...moreJade Sharma discusses her first novel Problems, the complicated feelings that came with debuting to rave reviews, and her writing and editing processes.
...moreNo word is wasted. No story is told in vain.
...moreThen the road less traveled by diverged in a wood and took him in the night.
...moreYou are never really at peace with what you haven’t gotten.
...moreShe gave him a small, relieved laugh. In another world, she replied.
...moreI read poetry for enjoyment now, to feel seen, and to see the world differently.
...moreA Rumpus series of work by women, trans, and nonbinary writers that engages with rape culture, sexual assault, and domestic violence.
...moreI took a deep breath. A long one. And I started rocking again.
...morePoems echo, rebound, and speak to one another.
...moreDid you see an animal? Did you see a bird? What did you see when you looked at me?
...moreTo have lost, found, and then lost again seems especially wrenching, a kind of unmothering.
...moreAmanda Moore discusses her debut poetry collection, REQUEENING.
...moreAs the title suggests, Sanctuary creates a safe space for grief in all its forms.
...more“What do we do about the new build?” I ask. “Do we finish it? Sell it? Finish it, then sell it?”
...moreI want to ask Anna for a map of desirability. Where was I before, where was I pregnant, where am I now?
...moreAllow her to bewitch you as she bewitches all who cross her path.
...moreKyle Beachy discusses his new memoir, THE MOST FUN THING.
...moreWhat did it matter? It was June and the salmonfly hatch had begun.
...moreThe voice reaches and reaches at answers to broad questions. Sometimes it pulls back pieces of insight and beauty.
...moreAppearance aside, my boss took his work seriously.
...moreApples do not grow “true to seed,” meaning that what you put in the ground isn’t always what comes back out of it.
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