Tag: bravery
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Seeds
It is Semana Santa, the highly celebrated week before Easter. Many party boats are in a hurry to herd vacationers out on the bay. Smart whales departed before the festivities, though dolphins still make an appearance. I tow a small white buoy when I swim, and sometimes wear a red cap, depending on traffic. This…
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Fire?
“Fire!” lied the alarm, sending a jolt of adrenaline through me in the wee hours. I leaped out of bed, flung open a sky hatch, and pushed the hush button. “Smoke previously detected,” she explained. I smelled no smoke. I saw no fire. I felt no warmth in the walls or roof. Topside, the solar…
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Not Done
I was climbing the swim ladder on the port side after cleaning the hull. (Not completely, never completely – Jesus, Mary and Joseph — just another section, like painting the Golden Gate Bridge.) Off the starboard stern quarter, beyond the boom and solar panels and cockpit, a whale dives under the boat. Where I was…
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Get Away
“Get away from me,” I tell the self-righteous woman in front of me, but she doesn’t. She continues screeching about leashes and laws. It is an early winter morning circa 2005, and Emmett and I are ambling around the ‘hood. We usually have it to ourselves at this hour, but not today. I do understand…
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Full Moon at The Other Café
My first night working at The Other Café – coffeehouse by day, comedy club by night – Robin Williams was in the house. I was in the kitchen learning to salt the chili so customers would drink more, when he grabbed me and tango’d me around the crowded floor — crowded with cooks, comedians, waiters,…
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Stuck
A neighboring sailboat was having trouble hauling anchor. It seemed to be stuck on something on the ocean floor. Supposedly there are a few shipwrecks in this anchorage. The neighbors tried dropping more chain. No joy. They tried hard reverse. Nope. They tried hauling from a different direction, and, eventually, they got loose and motored…
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Thief of Peace
Jealousy is the thief of peace. I’ve been on both sides of it, and I can’t recommend either. It twists your thinking into the most illogical of pretzels, and makes us behave badly – to ourselves and others. I used to throw tantrums when I caught my (alcoholic, abusive) boyfriend eyeing other women. Man. I…
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Jimmy
Jimmy disappeared when he was ten and I never saw him again. Over the years, he armored up with muscles and gangs, and escaped into drugs. When I returned to our mother’s house for holidays, he avoided me. Wrapped up in my own sorrows – a battering boyfriend, two abortions in a row – I…
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V-Day
It’s 2008. My best friend (yes, canine) had transitioned more than a month ago, and the loss was tremendous. I had to do something to express my continuing love for him. “Would you be interested in a guerrilla poetry action?” I asked a new human friend, Shannon, a talented artist. “Yes!” she said. And so…
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Tedi Sato
I had a big sister for two years. Her name was Tedi Sato. She was my fifteen-year-old babysitter when we lived in Santa Monica, and one day she came to live with us. It was wonderful! I was no longer the responsible elder, caring for my mother and brother. Someone else had joined the family…
essays by shé 