Truth
Hila Ratzabi - { I Don’t Care if Your Memoir is True, and Other Thoughts on Truth and Fiction }
Jessica Gross - { 2 Train, End to End }
Michael Henson - { Maggie Boylan }
Alissa Heyman - { I Married a Skull } { Shortly After the Wedding }{ The Silent Treatment }
Lynne Procope - { Doing It for Love } { The Poet Addresses Saartjie Baartman; The So Called Venus Hottentot. }
Tim Raymond - { Small }
Jaime Warburton - { This Is Not a Poem About a Dream } { - Red Moon Last Night }
Untruth
Shelly Oria - { Integrity }
Sheila Thorne - { Betrayal }
Jennifer Duffield White - { Blue-Sky Treason }
We Don't Know and They
Won't Tell Us
Tamiko Beyer - { We Don’t Know and They Won’t Tell Us ~ Poetry in the Space of Possibility }
Adam Auerbach - { Illustrations }
Simon Perchik - { Five Untitled Poems }
Lynne Procope - { The Mortal Danger of Redheads }
Hila Ratzabi - { I Have to Show My Appreciation to You for Rescuing Me from This Setting }
| Small by Tim Raymond |
The man walked into the bedroom. His wife was already on the bed.
He said, “Move over, honey? Would you? I need that side of the bed.”
The woman just looked at him.
“I need to be closer to the door,” he said.
She smiled.
The man said, “In case somebody breaks in, I need this side, so I can protect you.”
The woman finally moved over.
She said, “But now I’m closer to the window, honey. Someone can come in through the window, too.”
“We’re two floors up,” said the man. “You’d need a ladder to get this high.”
He got under the covers.
“Things can happen,” said the wife then. “Really, anything can.”
The man agreed with her here.
“Yes,” he said. “Things can.”
In the morning, the woman made coffee.
“I slept so bad,” she said. “Man. I’m just exhausted.”
“I’m sorry, honey.”
“I couldn’t stop thinking about the window,” she said. “That was the problem.”
“I’m sorry, really,” he said.
“We need to do something, honey,” she said. “We do.”
The man thought about it.
“Maybe you’re right,” he said. “Okay.”
That afternoon, the man and the woman went to the hardware store, where they found an eager window salesman. In an aisle filled with windows, the salesman suggested a frame with two locks.
“Look at the locks,” he said. “See right here? They’re good locks.”
“Do you have anything with more locks?” said the man. “I think we’d like more locks on our window.”
He looked at the woman.
“Yes,” she said. “I’d like one with locks in more places.”
The salesman looked around the aisle.
He said, “Well, we don’t have windows with more locks. But you can get one that just doesn’t open?”
The man looked at the wife once more.
“We’ll take that,” she said.
Back at home, she brought some coffee to the man, who was in the bedroom studying the window.
“Are you sure you can install this one on your own, honey?” she said.
“Sure, I can,” said the man. “Believe it.”
“I know it’s a hard job,” she said, smiling. “I know that much.”
The man nodded.
“I know that we don’t want any strangers coming into our bedroom,” he said. “I know that much.”
“You’re right, honey,” the woman said then. “That’s right.”
“Besides, I’m handy,” said the man.
“Oh, we’re going to have such a nice bedroom,” said the wife.
“We’ll have to do the other rooms now, too,” he said.
“You have to start small with these things,” she said.
“Oh ho, yes,” he said.
The man installed the window that afternoon. The process was very smooth. The old window slid from the wall with ease. And the new one slid in perfectly.
He called to his wife when he finished.
He said, “Dear?”
“Yes, honey?”
“Come here,” he said.
She walked in carrying two glasses of iced tea.
“See?” said the man. “This is just great. See how the window can’t come out? It’s just this single piece. The only way to get through this is to push the window through the wall.”
“Is that possible?” said the wife. “Is anyone really that strong?”
She set the glasses down on the hope-chest in front of the bed.
“No,” said the man. “No, surely not. No one is that strong.”
He knocked on the wall.
He added, “This foundation is solid. I knew that when we bought the place.”
“Oh good,” said the wife, lying down on the bed. “Now let me get a sense of what it’ll be like sleeping next to it.”
There, on the bed, she looked up at the ceiling. She pretended to sleep. Then she breathed deep and turned on her side, where she could see straight through the new window.
“The neighbors are watching TV,” she said. “I can see right in their living room.”
“Huh,” said the man.
“I never could before,” she said. “We always had the curtains there.”
“What are they doing?”
“I just said,” said the woman. “They’re watching TV.”
“Oh, right,” said the man. “Sorry.”
“It’s okay, honey.”
“I guess I got caught up with the look of the new window.”
“I understand,” she said. “Now come here and lie with me.”
After replacing the curtains, the man lay down. He and the woman made love for the fourth time in two weeks.
When they finished, the wife said, “It’s such a nice bedroom.”
“I know!” said the man.
“I wonder if we should get a new door too, though,” said the woman.
“Really?” said the man.
“Oh, honey, I don’t want you to get hurt if you don’t have to. Maybe we should just get a better door, with more locks.”
“We could just get new locks, then?” he said.
“A new door would look so nice, too,” said the woman.
“Okay, sure,” he said. “Maybe you’re right.”
“Let’s go tomorrow,” she said.
Back at the hardware store, a new salesman tried to sell them a door. The man quickly stopped him.
“I’m sorry,” he said. “Maybe we could get the last salesman we had? He sold windows.”
“He was just so helpful,” added the woman.
The window salesman showed them a nice door with many locks.
He said, “With this door, anyone trying to get in will have to deal with five different locks.”
“I can only see four,” said the man.
“There’s one at the top here,” said the salesman.
“Oh, okay,” said the man.
In the afternoon, the man installed the door. The whole process took less than an hour.
“Honey, come here!” he yelled when he was done. “Come see the new door. Hurry!”
“It’s a lovely door,” said the wife, looking hard. “It’s such a nice color.”
“It’s oak,” said the man.
“Let’s lie down and see how it feels.”
The man locked all five locks on the door, then got into bed. He shifted to get comfortable.
He said, “Hey, this is good.”
“I wonder which is safer, the door or the window,” said the woman.
“I really can’t say,” said the man.
“Can we switch sides for a second?” said the wife.
“Maybe we shouldn’t.”
“Okay, honey,” she said.
With the door locked, and the window sealed, the man and the woman made love for the fifth time in two weeks.
“Hey!” said the man, two days later. “If we had a TV here in the bedroom, we could watch all our shows without leaving the bed. Wouldn’t that be something?”
“You’re right!” said the woman.
The salesman at the electronics store was very young.
The man said, “I’m sorry, kid. You just seem too young. Can we talk to someone with a little more experience? This is a big buy for us.”
“No offense, of course,” added the woman.
The young salesman only sighed and left.
“I’m so excited for the new TV,” said the wife then.
“Oh, it’s going to be a gosh-dang hell of a bedroom,” said the man.
The new salesman was much older. His hair was even gray. And he knew a lot about televisions.
He said, “This one right here is your best bet. It’s flat, it’s wide, and it’s big. But it’s not that heavy. I’ll tell you that.”
“I don’t know,” said the man.
“It’s a good price too,” said the salesman. “I’m telling you, the quality here is really top-notch.”
The man scratched his chin.
He said, “Now, we don’t want to get flimflammed here.”
“Of course not,” said the salesman. “Never.”
The man looked to his wife.
She nodded.
“All right then,” said the man.
After all, the salesman was right. With the television installed, the man and the woman were very happy with the quality of their shows. In bed on the first night with the television, they watched one of the wife’s favorite shows, one about a single man who has to choose a wife from a group of twenty-five women. These women have to compete over the course of four months for the man’s affection.
“Do you think I could win on a show like that?” said the wife.
The man thought it over.
“Yes,” he said. “I do think that.”
“But what would I do?” she said. “I would need something special. I would need to have a thing.”
“Remember when we met?” said the man. “Do you remember that? You wore a sundress. I saw you across the park, and you walked right up to me. You chose me out of everyone there. You were so sweet.”
“Thank you, honey.”
“That was so long ago.”
“It doesn’t seem so long now.”
“No, I guess not,” said the man.
With the wife’s show over, the man and the woman watched one of the man’s favorite shows. This show was very different from the wife’s show, because it was about animals, not people. In it, men would track down and film dangerous animals, getting as close as possible without risking injury.
“I wonder how someone can sneak up on a bear like that,” said the wife. “Can’t the bears smell the people? It’s so dangerous.”
“Usually bears can smell people,” the man said. “Usually they can. But the men cover their scent with a special spray.”
“That can’t work!” said the wife.
“Oh ho, it does,” said the man. “Here, I’ll show you.”
He got up, unlocked all five locks on the door, and headed downstairs. When he returned to the bedroom, he held a small spray bottle.
He relocked the door.
He said, “Watch.”
“Okay.”
The man sprayed himself all over then.
“Listen,” he said. “Now try to smell me. You just try to smell me now.”
The woman sniffed.
“I can’t,” she said, amazed. “I really can’t smell you at all.”
“See?” said the man. “Do you see now?”
“Oh, yes,” she said. “I really do.”
“Here, now let me try this,” the man continued. “Close your eyes and let me hide like the men do on the show.”
“Okay,” said the woman.
“You be the bear now,” he said.
“Okay.”
After she closed her eyes, the man kneeled down behind the hope-chest. Hidden, he told the woman to open her eyes and try to find him.
“Do you know where I am?” he said. “Can you find me?”
“I can’t!” said the wife. “I have no idea where you are.”
“See?” said the man.
“I see, honey,” she said. “Now come here to bed.”
It was a week later, at night, when the woman heard a noise down the stairs.
“Honey,” she said. “Do you hear that?”
“Huh?” said the man, almost asleep.
“Do you hear that noise at the front door?”
He listened.
He said, “Yeah, I do.”
The man looked around the room, then picked up a shoe.
“Let me take care of this,” he said.
Downstairs, at the front door, was the man’s brother. He held a baby in his arms, and looked frazzled.
“Oh,” said the man. “Hi.”
“Hi,” said the brother.
They stood, looking at one another.
“Can I please come in?” said the brother, finally.
Inside, the brother explained that there was a plumbing problem at his house. Some rooms were flooding.
“We need you to watch the baby,” he said. “We don’t want to neglect him while we’re cleaning up.”
“Wouldn’t the baby be sleeping, though?” said the man.
“Babies wake up all the time,” said the brother. “Can you take him or not?”
“Okay,” the man said. “Gosh, for a second there, I thought you were someone trying to break in.”
“What?” said the brother. “That’s crazy. Don’t be crazy. You’re being crazy.”
“Sorry,” said the man.
The brother looked around the living room.
“It’s spotless in here,” he said. “Jesus. Wow.”
That night, the man and the woman didn’t know where to put the baby. They wandered around the house, looking for a place. Eventually, all three of them curled up in the bed, with the baby in the center. They fell asleep this way.
In the morning, though, the woman found vomit on the sheets.
“Honey,” she said.
The man looked.
“Oh my god,” he said.
“We need a new mattress,” she said.
They spent thirty minutes driving, looking for the brother’s house.
“I thought I remembered where it was,” said the man. “I guess it’s been longer than we thought.”
“It’s been a long time, honey,” said the wife.
The baby just cooed.
When they did find the house, they went straight inside. The brother and his wife had their jeans rolled up to their knees. Each of them had a bucket and a rag. The floor was a mess with stains from the water.
All the furniture was stacked in the living room.
“Oh, dear,” said the man, his hand on his mouth.
“You have a real issue here,” said the wife.
“Yeah,” said the brother.
“Jeez,” said the man.
“Thanks again,” said the brother’s wife, taking the baby. “It’s been a rough night here. We had to call a plumber in the end.”
“He’ll be here any minute, I guess,” said the brother.
“Maybe that’s for the best,” said the man.
“I thought we could handle it,” the brother said.
“Not everyone can,” said the wife. “It’s really hard.”
“Do you want some coffee?” said the brother’s wife.
The man and the woman looked at one another.
“Actually,” said the man. “We really need to get going.”
“Thanks, anyway,” added the woman.
“That’s okay,” said the brother. “All right, you’ve got things to do. No coffee. That’s okay.”
Back in the car, the man and the wife talked.
“I can’t imagine!” said the wife. “I just can’t imagine!”
“You’re telling me,” said the man.
“All that water,” said the woman. “And did you see the furniture, dear!”
“Soaked through,” said the man. “It’s a shame. Did you see the carpet?”
“Did I?” said the wife. “Man, did I!”
Before going back to the house, they bought a new mattress at a furniture store downtown. The man picked it out.
The salesman there assured them that the mattress was both big and comfortable.
He said, “This particular product will last you the rest of your lives.”
“Really?” said the wife.
“No kidding,” said the salesman.
“No!” said the woman. “Isn’t that great, honey?”
“Oh ho,” said the man.
The salesman smiled.
“Can I have a guarantee, though?” added the man. “I’d really like a guarantee on this.”
“Of course,” said the salesman. “I guarantee it.”
“Okay then, I’ll pull my truck around,” said the man.
“We can deliver if you’d like,” said the salesman.
“No,” said the man. “I prefer to take it home myself.”
At home, the man put the old mattress in the garage, between a box of tools and a bike frame with no tires. He was careful to lean the mattress face down against the wall. This way the stain, then a dark orange, would not be visible.
In the bedroom, the wife helped him lay the new mattress on the bed-frame.
“Let’s lay on it,” she said.
“All right.”
Both the man and the woman shifted while on the bed.
“Maybe we can switch sides?” said the man.
“Sure, honey.”
They moved quickly.
“This is much better,” said the man. “You know, this mattress is really something, all right.”
“I’m so comfortable,” said the wife.
“It looks like the clouds are coming in,” said the man, now looking through the window.
“Oh ho,” said the wife.
“Hey!” said the man.
They laughed, together, at the wife’s little joke.
The following night, the wife watched television while the man dozed beside her. After stopping on a channel, she shook him.
She grabbed his arm.
She said, “Look, honey.”
“Huh?” said the man.
“Look at this vacation on TV,” the woman said.
The television showed a large cabin in the Rocky Mountains.
The wife said, “We haven’t taken a vacation in so long, honey. Maybe we could take one?”
“Is it safe?” said the man.
“Well sure,” she said. “The cabin is there all by itself. Just look! Look there!”
She pointed at the screen, at the single-story cabin in the middle of a group of trees.
“There’s even a lake nearby,” said the woman. “Oh, look.”
“Maybe we could take a vacation sometime,” said the man.
“We’ve done so much work around here,” continued the wife. “We could really stand to take a break. It’d be nice to get out of the city.”
“Why don’t you take down the number, dear,” said the man. “We’ll call them in the morning. This way we can think a little about it tomorrow. Maybe we’ll decide we want to go somewhere else.”
“Oh, but I like the cabin,” she said.
“Okay, let’s just call them in the morning, dear,” the man said.
The wife turned off the television then.
She could not stop talking about the vacation.
She said, “I can imagine that we’re already there. Can’t you, honey? We’ll be there. We’ll relax. Then we’ll come home to our nice new bedroom.”
The man sighed and turned on his side.
“Can’t you imagine it, honey?” she said again. “Can’t you imagine the trees and the cabin and the water?”
“I can’t yet,” the man said sleepily. “I can’t see it all quite yet.”
“Oh, but I really can,” said the wife.
She put her hands up to her mouth.
“Good night then, dear,” said the man.
In the dark, the woman looked around the room. She waited. Even with the television off, she was still sitting up in the bed. The only sound in the bedroom then was the man shifting under the covers. When the woman did lie down, she made sure to face the man.
She whispered, “I can imagine it so clearly, honey. I really can.”
The woman waited a few minutes.
“I really can,” she said a second time.
Again, she waited.
The man was asleep when she said it a third time.
