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I need to tell you how I felt in the park this morning when I stood on the frosted grass with my dog as we stared at three wild horses eating these stiff blades. I’ve swallowedworse mouthfuls of winter, but stillI need to find better words than worseto describe that open cavity of wetlands they …

1. 8:07 I construct a game. It is a game only I know is being played, and I am the only one playing it. It is a game like a shadow and it is this: seeing how many drinks I can have without anyone noticing I’m not sober. Two hours ago they asked me how …

Winner of the 2024 Annie Dillard Prize (Nonfiction) “Maybe my thinking has been wrong all along. Maybe silence is not something to interact with, to be filled in, but rather to let wash over you, to exist within.” —Victoria Chang, Dear Memory Father:I have never heard your voice, other than in the conversations that neither …

something hooked between / my shoulder blades / tugs and I melt metallic / from the corners of my mouth / frothing silver lined foam / that crumbles once it’s past my chin / for me to stand on the rubble of / my own sterling saliva / as I turn myself to ore and …

a “figure of man and woman all together” —Vocabulario de la lengua tagala, 1613 mornings, I braid wet black hair quick & taut after bathing. the health of flock & herds depends on the rain.I’ve met those wooden figures, both male & female sleepy in granaries. say, water—say loving words like fish, fruit, fowl.my body …

REPUBLIC OF GHANA / REPUBLIQUE DU GHANAPassport / Passeport Type/ Type Code/Code Passport No. / Passeport No. Surname/NomAmoah — my mother’s maternal surname means pit, hole, or trench. The pronunciation of the name is akin to mmoa — meaning animals. Which animal? An ant? An antelope? A buffoon? A bat? Mmoa also means to fold. …

When I opened the door, Pam winced. She saw my red-veined eyes and assumed the tears were for her. “I’m so sorry to be putting you through this,” she said, pulling me into a hug. I was too embarrassed to correct her. I did grieve for Pam—I’m not a monster—but I hadn’t been crying about …

Far out at sea, a small wooden fishing boat thrashes in a fierce storm. Lightning streaks across the sky and rain pounds. Waves crash over the boat’s bow and it capsizes, tossing a tiny human-like creature made of red yarn overboard. He’s cast ashore, sea-drenched. I lean forward, game controller in hand, watching a fuzzy-toothed …

I think of little Leah who stumbles offthe camp bus at pick-up, beelines to the buzzypsychic’s table set up on the terrifying sidewalkof New York City. Our first reaction, Let’s leavethis stranger alone . . . but her solid curiositya sock finding a freezing foot, or water spillingon salt, something extraordinary because it isnecessary, sincere …

a girl walks into her mother’s closet & says she’s bisexual & the mother hands her a shirt to fold & says you won’t feel that way in ten years & the girl walks into her boyfriend’s arms & says she likes girls & the boy laughs & hands her his cock & the girl …