essays by shé

bookshelf

Tag: family

  • 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…

  • 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…

  • 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…

  • 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…

  • 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,…

  • 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…

  • Birthdays

    We celebrated birthdays hard when I was a kid. Breakfast in bed, presents, queen for the day, and favorite foods for dinner (crab, sourdough, artichoke). In México, I garner a slice of banana pudding bread and a card from Maria, the kind server at my favorite eatery. So far I like ageing. Less tolerant of…

  • 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…

  • 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…

  • 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…