I feel guilty for writing poems when I should be cooking. I feel guilty for everything. You don’t have to beat a woman if you can make her feel guilty. That’s Isadora Wing’s first principle of the war between sexes. Women are their own worst enemies. And guilt is the same weapon of self-torture.

Years ago I did a terrible thing. I edited a copy of a young male student's paper, "Reflections on Black Women," so that all references to male and female were changed to "us" and "them."  After several months elapsed, I read the paper during one of our after-class beer chats.  And sure enough everyone reacted to phrases like "I don't believe in ( Read more... )

In the reoccurring dream, everything has already fallen down, and I'm underneath.  I'm crawling, sometimes for days, under the rubble.  And as I crawl, I realize that this one was the Big One.  It was the earthquake that shook the whole world, and every single thing was destroyed.  But this isn't the scary part.  That part always comes right before ( Read more... )