My Cardboard Balcony

I couldn't tell if the last remaining strands of hair on Grandma's head were white or gold - if the sun hit them right, you could see a flaxen sheen, though again, I wasn't sure if that was the natural color or not. Still, it was strange to see my grandmother balding while my grandfather had a full head of hair. She covered it up most of the time, wearing a scarf around her head or one of the hats she had knitted over the past four months.

by Belinda Roddie "I’m just saying, I think gummy sharks should taste like blood, not gelatin." "Why the Hell would you want that?" "It just makes it realistic, that's all." "...Realistic? To taste shark blood?" "I mean, have you had it? Maybe it's not bad." "...In a Mai Tai?" "Would it not truly be the Hawaii experience?" "No!" "Hmmm. I guess you're right." "Thank you." "Because gummy sharks chill around Australia." "..." "Not Hawaii. Yeah, I got my geography fucked up." "..." "Their meat's called 'flake' in Southern Australia. Did you know that?" "John." "Yeah?" "What the fuck are you talking about?!" "I'm talking 'bout gummy sharks, dude! Like, for real gummy sharks!" "So we're not talking about the candy?" ...

I didn't want to use a tired cliché, but a light bulb popped up above my head as I watched my friends scramble to jump start the van. I knew that we didn't have jumper cables, but I wondered if a little bit of scientific finagling would do the trick. "Wesley!" I cried. "Get me a screwdriver and a paper clip!" Wesley stared at me like I had two heads. Everyone else furrowed their brows.

Okay. So I love spoken word. Have for a long time. I've dabbled in writing poetry that's meant to be performed quite a bit. And today was the first day my high school students began performing their own poetry and speeches in front of their classes. It was also one of the first time I really performed my own poetry, too. See, I've done poetry readings before. Back in 2012 and 2013, I made somewhat regular appearances at a local poetry event in my hometown. I was actually called a modern day Dorothy Parker - which is, in fact, a huge compliment. After I moved to San Rafael and started going for my teaching credential, however, I didn't exactly have time to stand in front of a microphone. I hadn't tried memorizing pieces in years. I ultimately settled on more conventional poetry as I delved further and further into my work. And I get that. But one of my New Year's resolutions this year was to go back to performance in some way. So today was the first step in...

Aortic Eruption by Belinda Roddie Is this how it feels to have your heart explode?

You know...I really do miss consistent OneWords. No update on the website again. Le sigh.

The Two Of Us by Belinda Roddie The two of us were sitting on the dock when the moon swallowed up the sky and stars. You wore both a green and a purple sock, and you couldn't stop talking about cars and motorcycles. I was far away, absorbed in the glow of Diana's eyes, her bow taut and her arrow bright as day, quiv'ring like a bird does before it flies. I knew it wasn't practical to stare upon an orb thousands of miles away - no, hundreds of thousands - and yet, the hair stood up across my head. You didn't say a word about it, or seem to notice. You chatted idly in your endless bliss.