B. N. Wattenbarger
another one for the end times
my father was born into the shadow of the bomb. time passed— man pierced the atmosphere, touched the distant nothing surrounding us. the...
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B. N. Wattenbarger
Love Is Learning to Listen
You don't know someone for fifteen years without either being or becoming a bit like them. In some ways, having such long-lasting...
B. N. Wattenbarger
my love you make the flowers
you make the flowers grow— when our eyes meet, petals unfurl across your brow. at your feet there are blooms which reach for you as...
B. N. Wattenbarger
We Humans, Not Built to Last
what good is a god? what use is a deity who sees but does not intervene, who watches as we his children place our hands in the fire to...
B. N. Wattenbarger
Apartment Oracle
There's an article taped to our refrigerator. The headline screams ten things you should have before age twenty-five. We taped it to the...
B. N. Wattenbarger
The Emperor Is Wearing Vapor Rub
I am the only one in my family, that I know of, who uses vapor rub. In fact, I am currently slathered in it, feeling a bit like I've...
B. N. Wattenbarger
parley
our traitorous hearts beat like war drums, an unbidden percussion against the ribcage urging us to march towards one another into the...
B. N. Wattenbarger
in march, all things new
soft sweet kisses on rosebud lips and pink-stained cheeks with a dusting of freckles from too long in the sunlight are not enough to make...
B. N. Wattenbarger
defenestration
i can't breathe unless i have an exit plan. i have never been less than one foot out the door, windows propped open and hammer in hand. ...
B. N. Wattenbarger
The Office Tour
There is a minor god in the supply closet. Sort of a household god, if an office can have something like that. It's lived there as long...
B. N. Wattenbarger
you, by any other name
day one: you swore your lips touched but you woke up alone. the calendar on the wall says two thousand and twelve and you haven't lived...
B. N. Wattenbarger
you, across the universe
Life in the solar system of Sagittarius A*: In this life, you are a carpenter. The small town you live in lies next to a nuclear plant,...
B. N. Wattenbarger
sleeping my way to the top
sleeping my way to the top is a full time job. my boss says he likes a red lip, likes them young, likes the innocence. he wants to feel...
B. N. Wattenbarger
Your First Draft Should Be Shitty
I don't like to give writing advice because, frankly, a lot of writing advice can actually make you worse— it can steal your voice and...
B. N. Wattenbarger
I Transcended In A Gas Station In Fort Payne Alabama
the gas station smells like chewing tobacco, but it also smells like home, in a way that any child of the south knows. there are pickled...
B. N. Wattenbarger
How To Do The Thing
As I write this, a man and a woman across the globe are separately telling me how bad I am at something. I am thanking them. This is not...
B. N. Wattenbarger
astrology
The horoscope said: “Sagittarius and Aries, highly compatible. Fire signs love adventure and freedom. They hate feeling tied down.” I...
B. N. Wattenbarger
harm reduction
some of us waiting to destroy ourselves in quieter ways— my lips are bitten to blood draws. some of us have never bled at our own hands...
B. N. Wattenbarger
inner space/outer space
there is a future we cannot see, distant enough to need its own word. past tomorrow, next week, next century, two galaxies over and a...
B. N. Wattenbarger
entropy
saturn's rings pulse into the universe, a heartbeat in the empty spaces. this is living— it happens in the in-between. a pulse is still a...
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