2006 - Vol. 3, Issue 7

It was a perfect day for a horseback ride. The air was warm for that time of year. The sumac blazed crimson amid yellow foliage. Trigger was at the far side of the pasture, so I whistled for him.

The gelding lifted his head, turned and faced my direction, twitching his ears. Trigger wasn't a registered American Paint, but that didn't matter to me. The way he stood in the pasture, his black, white, and brown coat shining in the sunlight, made me think he was the most beautiful animal in the world. He was just the right height — tall enough for my dad to use for herding cattle and short enough for me — a five–foot–two teenager, to ride.

The pleasant receptionist tapped lightly three times on the office door, opened it a few inches and said, "Excuse me, Mrs. Carlisle. Your nine o'clock interview, Robin Simms, is here."

Robin detected no response from within the office, but the receptionist told her to go on in.

"Thank you," Robin replied, then said in a lower voice, "Forward."

when my body's already trashed
cuz the cats don't care
i say   the cats
don't care if i can't make it
to work   if i haven't taken
my medication   washed
a dish in ten weeks   the cats
don't care   scrabbling onto my lap
they don't ask if i'm contagious

KARI: What work do you do for Breath & Shadow?

LINDA: Unofficially, I do some copyediting, but more officially, I do proofreading. When I first started working for Breath & Shadow, I did much more copyediting. Often, I copyedited Sharon's humor column, and then I told Sharon that I wanted to be more of a proofreader. She sends me things that she thinks just need to be checked for punctuation, that sort of thing. But then, I'll encounter sentences that I think need some clarification, so I'll end up doing some copyediting, too.

December, a weekday.
The snow falls.
It's a perfect winter storm.
Early dismissal comes
crackling from ancient speakers —
hundreds of children escape,
backpacks bumping.