Table of Contents
(essays and • poems)
What Is Love? • 4
I Don't Blame You • 6
Not Everything 7
Day One 8
I Deserved My Mother’s • 10
Living in the 1950s 11
The Unexpected 14
The Erection 18
Blue and Gray 19
Two Paths of Fear 20
Early On 21
The World Outside 23
The New House 24
Gravel Road • 26
Patriotic 28
Housework 29
School Sucks 30
School Triumphs 33
Recess 35
The Ocean Liner 36
Tree Tops 37
Boys and Girls 38
Little League 40
A Nasty Surprise 42
Swimming Lessons 44
The Swimming Lesson 46
Boxing Lessons 49
The Bonfire 51
Patriarchy • 52
Boy Scouts 53
The Future 54
Playing With Numbers 55
Compost Pile 56
Racism, Invisible 57
Blame Culture 59
High School 60
Down for the Count 61
Interpretation • 65
The Garage 66
The Latest Thing 67
Life Path & the World Around Us 68
A Shock to the System 69
The Price of Integrity 72
Do Not Read • 74
Higher Education 75
The Dawn 78
Uncle Sam Calls 79
College? 85
At Goddard 87
Sex and Drugs and Rock ’n Roll 89
Dance Class 92
Feminism 94
The Decline of Civilization 96
Asking for Help 97
Suburban Life 98
A Job’s a Job 101
Charging Ahead 103
Making a Living 105
Emotional Growth 107
Days of Darkness 108
At the Bottom 111
A Great Loss 113
The Spirit 115
Seeking • 117
The Inventor Gene 118
My Own Two Feet 120
Family Matters 122
Prophecy 127
Change 129
The Curve 131
Border Crossing • 136
Size Matters 137
Fashion Trumps Everything! 141
What is Science? 143
I start asking 146
Shopping for Clothes 150
As a woman 152
Private Lives 157
Walking at night • 158
The Big Question 160
The power of women 163
Armpits 166
Fat Girls 169
Lying Awake • 170
Us and Them 171
Youth 172
Parents 174
Educational Change 176
The Glass Ceiling 177
(and more)