Blended Family

Published 2016

The Southampton Review

Things like sofas and chairs we bought new
rugs too—except for that old sisal runner
I nailed to the stairs so the kids wouldn’t slip

spending $500 on a vintage velvet wingback we tried
in three spots before returning…the long brown hard
couch was also probably a mistake though
we made it work

things we had doubles of we simply used
both– chef’s knives, wine glasses, dessert plates,
cereal bowls, what didn’t mix or match
we alternated

the cutlery alone jumbled together, thrown in
a too-small drawer, spoons and forks mismatched so
they refused to nest one atop another, tangling
tumbling scratching instead

we used it all, sitting on this and sipping
from that and laughing living pretending we were
cereal bowls, likely knowing we were cutlery

About

Awards

Columbia Journal: First Place Winner, 2020 Nonfiction Award for autobiographical essay “HYBRID”
Beyond Words Literary Magazine: Winner, 2020 Dream Challenge “Kaden has Covid”
The Maine Review: Hon. Mention, 2021 Embody Award for essay “HIDEOUS”
Sunspot Lit: Finalist, 2020 Inception Contest Flash Fiction “Before and After”
Streetlight Magazine: Hon. Mention, 2020 Essay Contest “Finding Barbie’s Shoes”
Gival Press: Finalist, Oscar Wilde Award 2021 for poem “Self-Portrait at Age 9 as Albert Cashier”
Craft Literary: Hon. Mention, 2021 Flash Fiction Award
North American Review: Finalist, 2020 Kurt Vonnegut Prize

Get in Touch

Recent Work

The First Time I Consider Ending My Life I Am Four – Room Magazine
The Day After Wikipedia Still Lists Her in Present Tense – The Southampton Review
The Name Dropper – The Maine Review
My Earliest Self is a Boy… Electric Lit
T – The Rumpus
Denny and Me – Passengers Journal
Small-Town Nonsense – The East Hampton Star
A Conversation with Morgan Talty – The Rumpus
My Avatar (aka afab perpetrates heteronormative relationship) – Holy Gossip
What Goes Around – EAST Magazine
The Liar  The Normal School
I Drew a House – The Rumpus

More

HYBRID – Columbia Journal
Blended Family – The Southampton Review
There are No Baked Potato Chips in Palm Beach – Dash Literary Journal
Last Night I Dreamed My Mother Was Carl Reiner and I Was Sad She Died – Bangalore Review
Time Will Tell The Fiddlehead (Excerpted from Winter 2023 Print Journal)
Parallel Family – Harvard Review
Finding Barbie’s Shoes – Streetlight Magazine
Deformed – RFD Magazine
#2486 – The Southampton Review
On Drinking – Stonecoast Review
My Last Dress – The Sun Magazine

Reviews and Interviews

Blended Family

Published 2016

The Southampton Review

Things like sofas and chairs we bought new
rugs too—except for that old sisal runner
I nailed to the stairs so the kids wouldn’t slip

spending $500 on a vintage velvet wingback we tried
in three spots before returning…the long brown hard
couch was also probably a mistake though
we made it work

things we had doubles of we simply used
both– chef’s knives, wine glasses, dessert plates,
cereal bowls, what didn’t mix or match
we alternated

the cutlery alone jumbled together, thrown in
a too-small drawer, spoons and forks mismatched so
they refused to nest one atop another, tangling
tumbling scratching instead

we used it all, sitting on this and sipping
from that and laughing living pretending we were
cereal bowls, likely knowing we were cutlery

Recent Work

The First Time I Consider Ending My Life I Am Four – Room Magazine
The Day After Wikipedia Still Lists Her in Present Tense – The Southampton Review
The Name Dropper – The Maine Review
My Earliest Self is a Boy… Electric Lit
T – The Rumpus
Denny and Me – Passengers Journal
Small-Town Nonsense – The East Hampton Star
A Conversation with Morgan Talty – The Rumpus
My Avatar (aka afab perpetrates heteronormative relationship) – Holy Gossip
What Goes Around – EAST Magazine
The Liar  The Normal School
I Drew a House – The Rumpus

More

HYBRID – Columbia Journal
Blended Family – The Southampton Review
There are No Baked Potato Chips in Palm Beach – Dash Literary Journal
Last Night I Dreamed My Mother Was Carl Reiner and I Was Sad She Died – Bangalore Review
Time Will Tell The Fiddlehead (Excerpted from Winter 2023 Print Journal)
Parallel Family – Harvard Review
Finding Barbie’s Shoes – Streetlight Magazine
Deformed – RFD Magazine
#2486 – The Southampton Review
On Drinking – Stonecoast Review
My Last Dress – The Sun Magazine

Reviews and Interviews

About

Awards

Columbia Journal: First Place Winner, 2020 Nonfiction Award for autobiographical essay “HYBRID”
Beyond Words Literary Magazine: Winner, 2020 Dream Challenge “Kaden has Covid”
The Maine Review: Hon. Mention, 2021 Embody Award for essay “HIDEOUS”
Sunspot Lit: Finalist, 2020 Inception Contest Flash Fiction “Before and After”
Streetlight Magazine: Hon. Mention, 2020 Essay Contest “Finding Barbie’s Shoes”
Gival Press: Finalist, Oscar Wilde Award 2021 for poem “Self-Portrait at Age 9 as Albert Cashier”
Craft Literary: Hon. Mention, 2021 Flash Fiction Award
North American Review: Finalist, 2020 Kurt Vonnegut Prize

Get in Touch