Non-Fiction – Jessica Barratt

Soup’s On

We tell our truest stories when soup’s on. When the bay leaves do their thing (whatever it is), we reach into our deepest pockets and empty them all the way out. We’ve had enough time to stew, and so has the soup. It’s the warmth of it all, probably. And the waiting, because the longerContinue reading “Soup’s On”

Changing the Furniture Around

I’m sitting on a side table that’s usually meant for the alarm clock. Incense smoke drifts lazily to the ceiling, where I bet it lives for a while and I just don’t see it. My coffee is cold, but it always is after I’ve found it again. The piles keep moving from one place toContinue reading “Changing the Furniture Around”

Frost In Summer

It’s so hot out, yet I’m still so cold. Numb to the fingers and toes. Frost-bitten while the heat makes waves in the air all around. Look left. Look right. Pebbles as far as the eye can see. I’m just sitting on the beach, wishing for waves. Wishing for even a drop of the oceanContinue reading “Frost In Summer”

The Fold

It comes to me waking and in dreams: both an image, and a vision. In it I lay down and watch the tilt of the trees turn upward as my head rests to soft earth. Down here it smells sweeter….

The Last Stand

All my life, I’ve thought: my inner Soldier keeps me strong, and have been proud of that. I have a military family, after all. It’s where I get the part of me that wants to serve, or protect; where the part of me that lays down my own for others comes from. I’ve thought this also: it’sContinue reading “The Last Stand”