Massive content warning: If you yourself are a survivor of sexual assault, you have our permission to skip this piece. It’s up to you. But please pass it along. The essay that follows contains descriptions of sexual assault. Rape and sexual assault can happen to anyone regardless of gender identity or gender presentation. Likewise, issues…
Tag: Erika
Not all Poems are about Flowers… This one is, Though
A Gift of Flowers It might have been tulips. I think they were yellow. A smiling man handed them to a woman in a crowded bomb shelter.I saw the picture over the shoulder of some talking head on my screen. Thousands of miles away in my bedroom I’m thinking of these stories I’ve been writing…
Passover (Caturday Questions)
It’s Passover, and Human-Mom is praying to God that how some day she will be set free from the tyranny of her feline tormentors always sitting on her forearms and swishing her face with their tails while she’s trying to write. They’re cute, though, so she has mixed feelings. Passover as Twice-Told Tale Little Cat…
Kissing Rosalyn
When I was a teenager, I spent several summers at a Montessori-inspired hippie socialist utopian creative-and-performing arts camp. The eight weeks I spent at camp were a respite from trying to contort myself to fit in enough during the rest of the school year. Camp was a place to be myself. It was a place…
Textures (Caturday Questions)
Florida is not known for its winters, but Human-Mom did take to wearing her long sleeves when those nights started getting a bit chilly. Big Cat likes the feel of cotton under his paws. But Little Cat maintains he likes nuzzling against the bare forearm a bit better. The cats love their textures. Actually your…
Why We Need to “Flaunt” It
On a sunny Sunday afternoon in June, 1980-something, I was helping my mother change the sheets on her bed. I was in my early teens. Local news was covering the NYC Pride Parade and my mother turned to me, made a limp-wrist gesture and said, “Why do they need to flaunt it?” She continued, “I…
A Peek at Poetry (The Letter is Delayed)
Plan for the Unexpected, Right? Circumstances have conspired to delay Adam’s latest letter from Bangalore. I’ve seen it already. When we do publish it, I hope you’ll enjoy it as much as I did. We still want you to have something to read though. So…how about a little poetry talk? National Poetry Month is only…
Women’s History Month: Healing and Anger
Adam and I have often spoken about how one of our goals is to amplify voices that may not be heard. Which kind of obligates us to address the fact that March is Women’s History Month. I’ve had a note in our 2 Rules calendar about Women’s History Month for a while, but it just…
Potential (Caturday Questions)
Little Cat is 17 years old. Things have gotten to the point where he has considered retiring from his job of periodically running away from home and scaring the crap out of Human-Mom. It’s bittersweet. He’s very good at his job. And he obviously loves it. But like so many consummate professionals, he’ll probably retire…
Revise, Review, Revisit…and Welcome
Hello World Hello and welcome. And if you’re new here, perhaps you have come to visit after hearing us on the Master of None podcast, we’re glad you’re here. If you haven’t heard the podcast, give it a listen. Adam and Erika had the chance to sit down with Cheryl Woodhouse, who hosts Master of…