Being Women Together by Robin Crane

My mother and I were women together. Well, okay, I was only her girl child for some of those years, but I quite easily grasped one evening when I heard the plentiful and ebullient family next door having a barbecue that lasted roughly from noon until midnight the summer of my eleventh year the disquieting contrast between those noises and smells and the quiet dusk of our own kitchen.

“I’m lonely. I want more,” my sullen gaze telegraphed itself into her awareness.

“I understand, one hundred percent,” the squeeze she gave my hand – two short squeezes and a long one that felt particularly sincere and protective – transmitted.

So – this was womanhood, was our own version of womanhood anyway – a cloud of dissatisfaction palpable as a self-separate entity, a runty bunny rabbit, white with those gruesome red eyes.

originally published 6/4/18

Comments

Grand Rapids, Michigan by Robin Crane

I am at a mental hospital in Grand Rapids, Michigan. I had never been to this city before. My room is right next to the bay of telephones. I feel sad hearing so many patients start conversations with their friends or family and then so soon say, "Oh, you have to go? Well...goodbye."

Birthday Card Book

IN keeping with the more than usual focus on my mom, who passed away almost a year ago now, here is a book she made me for my 14th birthday.

Mermaid Sisters by Robin Crane

Mikayla knew that Diana tried to listen for actual words among the riotous din that drifted over from the elementary school whenever the kids were on the playground. More than once, she’d say something like, “I know they’re having conversations, but with all of them talking at once, it just sounds like they're all yelling at the top of their lungs at the same time.” Diana liked being able to faintly hear the morning announcements, but she didn’t like young children, and their playful noises sounded like seagulls aggressively squawking for the same pizza crust. Their family home growing up had been close to the beach, and they were currently sharing an apartment in a valley that was always hot and smoggy, with a sprawling building of U-Haul storage spaces, and the school of course, replacing the ocean as their view; hearing seabird noises out here felt like a taunt. No matter how many knots even a casual glance from Mom or ...

sweetheart redux

Search This Blog