the high school president race

buffy the vampire slayer

the douglas fir in front of my parents' house

mike, in a frankenstein costume
because it was halloween and he had a
lousy self-image

my father went through menopause and
developed the ability to fly, and
to make nests that looked like mansions
out of twigs and spit

the presidential election, and DC in
general, turned into a Mexican telenovela

mark wallace was the director - on buffy - and i
just got cast as a regular. i was cast
as the sensitive orthodox jewish kid
cuz there was already a funny kid, a
serious, hunky kid, and a tragic
poetry kid.

i knew i was supposed to play your
boyfriend for the season but i couldn't.
it felt like it was cheating.

and, because i have a killer job here
now, i decide not to move.

(don't worry -- for real, i *am* going to)

zayda, my grandfather, was still alive
only he didn't tell anyone.

i was wearing khakis

last night i dreamt you were
buffy, the vampire slayer, and I was a
friend of your friends', willow's internet
pen-pal. i was your love-interest for
the season. i tried to read the
lines so we'd be friends, so we'd never
start kissing. i liked your friends, i
knew them so well, how xander would
flinch and willow would clap when
you killed vampires.

i woke up crawled up all fetuslike,
which never usually happens. i usually
sleep rigidly. and onyx was asleep on
my pillow.