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description=Poems, stories and rants by writer Julie Buffaloe-Yoder;

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the, by, stories, in, she, michelle, mcgrane, buffaloe, and, somewhere, these, woods, rosalee, poetry, suitable, girl, on, when, john, dee, holeman, plays, blues, pen, poems, rants, writer, julie, yoder, teaches, me, about, world, tweaks, while, bleeds, big, barbie, pindrop, press, listen, to, her, walks, water, questions, black, white, ray, tips, of, their, fingers, story, quilt, line, between, mark, durfee, sometimes, little, mania, is, good, thing, manic, merry, christmas, happy, new, year, five, dollars, four, kids, short, pages, archives, categories, blogroll, resources,

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Text of the page (random words):
mauve she calls it we screech into the gravel parking lot of jo jo s groceries rosalee s corvette is a bright yellow 1978 classic fully restored and clean as a whistle some rich old sap she met at the beach last year gave it to her he thought she was going to marry him she also kept his ring and diamond studded sunglasses i can t see her eyes behind the dark lenses but i know rosalee s not watching where she s going she circles the vette around the parking lot flinging rocks and making people hustle to keep from getting run over rosalee is my beautiful first cousin she s a well i don t know what she does other than con idiots out of their money but she has a lot of time on her hands maybe turning her hick cousin into a world renowned poet is rosalee s way of giving back to society so far it s not working last month rosalee took me to the city where she lives i was supposed to read my poetry at an art gallery instead i fainted before the readings began when i woke up i begged rosalee to take me home today she s trying a new approach nothing poetic nothing literary rosalee s helping me build my confidence in public since there are no other stores in my town jo jo s groceries is about as public as it gets i still don t see how dressing like a hoochie mama will make me confident i say i tug at the top of my marilyn monroe wannabe dress i m worried a nipple will show rosalee whips in front of the handicap parking sign and stops the car we can t park here i yelp rosalee takes off her sunglasses and looks at me her eyes are green with little flecks of gold i smell lilacs lily of the valley ambrosia ever notice the people on the cover of poetry journals rosalee asks they either knew somebody or they blew somebody or they look good she hands me a tube of lip gloss but more than anything they re not surprised to be on the cover get it i toss the lip gloss in the cupholder rosalee slides out of the corvette her purse dangling on her wrist it s one of those huge new york purses and i wouldn t doubt if she had a little dog in it i struggle to get out of the corvette without flashing somebody my feet are already killing me i feel sweat between my toes even the three hookers in this town have sense enough to wear shorts and flip flops it s at least a hundred degrees if you want to be noticed you gotta put yourself out there rosalee says make sure the world never forgets when you write your bio make it sound something like this rosalee struts through the parking lot have mercy i don t know whether to applaud or cry suddenly flutes begin to play i hear lines from sarojini naidu s the snake charmer i imagine a serpent rising from a wicker basket rosalee s legs are endless her feet glide across gravel in six inch pumps shiny black hair bounces around her bare shoulders she hasn t broken a sweat the purple orchids on her short dress are stretched across her ass it sways in perfect rhythm i stumble along behind rosalee trying to catch up i nearly fall down when i step up on the sidewalk i feel like a freak i can t stop looking at my cousin s ass the electric doors open for rosalee we walk inside the store and a puff of cool air hits my face the place is packed full of saturday shoppers flat footed housewives good ole boys in their lightweight summer plaid snotty lip kids whining for candy a hush falls over the store i ve got a serious wedgie coming on no matter how much i yank at the hem of my dress it feels like my rear end is hanging out thankfully nobody is looking at me every face in the place is gazing at rosalee without missing a beat she grabs a cart and floats over to the produce section rosalee is poetry in motion all fluid all form the lines of her body are graceful but exciting she slides her cart forward the crowd parts people are smiling at rosalee sure she s making the men horny and their wives are mad as hell but there s something else going on a weird kind of respect hangs like electricity in the air she could be wearing a potato sack and it wouldn t matter she is giving them the gift of rosalee i tug to get a cart unstuck from the others at least i ve got something to lean on now of course the stupid wheel wobbles and my cart squeaks and pulls to the left i worm my way through the edges of the crowd rosalee waves and a couple of people move to let me through rosalee looks at me disgusted and puts her hand on her hip lesson number one don t let chumps butt in front she moves her hips back and forth in time with her words nice girls don t get jack a little mouse gets the pits that the rich girls spit rosalee drums her long purple fingernails on a watermelon lesson number two all these watermelon are your poetry magazines don t take the first one that winks at you go for quality see i want the one that s hard to get waaaaaay in the back she leans over the counter stretching her legs rosalee s ass rises up high and i imagine mary oliver s wild geese taking flight announcing their place in the world a man hustles over let me get that for you miss he says he hoists the large watermelon and puts it gently in her cart rosalee glances at him and rolls her eyes then she turns to me and another thing she snaps her fingers in my face don t thank them please and thank you for your time will land you in the servant s quarters they should be thanking you rosalee slides her cart over to the strawberries she plucks a fat one from the pile and holds it under the water mister she brings the strawberry to her mouth and slowly closes her thick glossy lips around it juice drips on her chest and trickles down between her cleavage i can literally hear every man in the store gulp an old lady humphs and walks away now lesson number whatever to hell with the bitches don t worry about what they think they re bitches so go ahead bite the big apple it belongs to you not them she points at a pyramid of deep red apples shining under the lights i stand there staring like a dunce not knowing what she wants me to say i pick up a cucumber and some bananas and put them in my cart phhhhht you re a hopeless case rosalee hisses she grabs the largest apple she can find and sinks her strong white teeth into its flesh she plops the apple back on the stack rosalee ignores me now and starts filling her cart with fruit and vegetables tossing aside the ones she doesn t want she flings radishes she flicks through grapes she swats sweet potatoes out of her way neatly arranged displays quickly turn into a huge slushpile of mixed up pears oranges and lettuce kiwis and mangoes bounce from their stacks and roll across the floor she doesn t bother to pick them up when rosalee gets what she wants we make our way to the register she pulls a wad of coupons out of her purse and shoves them at the cashier the girl looks puzzled none of the coupons match what rosalee has chosen the girl glances at the other cashiers and they all bob their heads even though i know better i believe it too yes her coupons are good yes yes yes rosalee swipes her card to pay she sashays out the door her ass swaying like a wordsworth ballad three bag boys fall all over themselves to be the one to push her cart i pay full price my cucumber s got a mark on it as if somebody stuck it with a fingernail a couple of my bananas are starting to bruise i thank the cashier who says nothing and thumps my stuff into a plastic bag at least i didn t faint i limp back to the corvette and rosalee s standing there with the car doors open and the air condition blasting she looks bored the boys carefully load her bags into the trunk i can t wait to get home and forget this day never again will i let rosalee talk me into something i m mad at myself for being so gullible this was just one more way for rosalee to show off and make me look like the fool that i am i take off my pumps large white blisters have formed on the sides of my toes i crouch down to touch them i wince and gently rub the skin around the blisters i glance up rosalee s standing there with her hands on her hips i see the strangest thing maybe it s the light maybe it s a weird angle i can t believe my eyes rosalee has a thick wisp of coarse black hair under her chin another image flashes into my brain drunk bukowski farting in the bathtub bubbles rise to the surface of the puke gray water and pop why didn t i see rosalee s beard before she s my cousin and i notice everything else i notice mold on the sidewalk i notice pores on faces i notice tree bark ants good lord i notice baby ants i study rosalee some more even her profile sort of looks like buk she s got a little roll of pudge around the gut i ll be damned i look a little closer there are varicose veins on her legs rosalee sees me staring at her she glares at me her eyes dare me to question her beauty i have no right she doesn t question herself ever she swings her hips and slides easily into the driver s seat maybe i m just jealous maybe the heat is getting to me i stand up and shake my head i do feel dizzy bukowski fades away and rosalee returns i must have been hallucinating rosalee is a goddess i feel like a toad when i plop down next to her rosalee revs up the corvette before i know it we re flinging rocks on our way out of the parking lot that woman s got talent and all the best peaches in the store note a friend asked me to whip up a little response to updike s short story a p we love updike s story for many reasons and in no way am i comparing my response to his story after all i m not rosalee but i thought it would be fun to share have a truly beautiful day posted in fiction poetry tagged a p fiction poetry short story updike 30 comments she tweaks while she bleeds march 11 2011 by julie big barbie has black plastic trash bags taped over the windows in her single wide trailer three hundred pounds of triple d axle grease big barbie s got a tattoo of a dead cop on her ass short white spike hair black boots tunnels in her ears she rides naked on her harley in the middle of the night big barbie knows pipes transmissions belts better than any damn man she likes to play rough with pretty little dolls knock off their heads and leave them laying in a dumpster behind angel mae s bar she s got the best acid in chatham county don t go to big barbie s unless you ve got cash but once a month when her pipes get funky she sits by the window and thinks about how her stepfather raped her she thinks about the baby those bastards took away big barbie cuts her arm with a rusty razor tweaks while she bleeds into black plastic space julie buffaloe yoder this poem originally published in don t call me plath posted in poetry tagged a rough life character poetry voice 27 comments the suitable girl by michelle mcgrane february 25 2011 by julie cover image istockphoto com chuckschugphotography the suitable girl by michelle mcgrane pindrop press the suitable girl wears many faces she is mythic and she is contemporary she mourns she is sensual she walks on water i felt like a kid at christmas when my copy of the suitable girl arrived in the mail i know michelle mcgrane is an excellent poet because i m a big fan of her work but this book even surpassed my expectations edited by jo hemmant of pindrop press the poems in the suitable girl are beautiful and powerful the often startling images are sharp and unique this collection of poems offers so much variety whether you are interested in shorter pieces or prose poems mythic voices or modern day scenes you will find it all in the suitable girl as a poet i cannot help but marvel at michelle mcgrane s technique her stanzas are well measured but don t feel forced her poems are musical and she echoes sound throughout entire pieces the narrator s voice is different in every poem from a straight talking beat style to elegant prose that rolls across the page but i ll try not to bore you with my urge to give a nerdy technical analysis listen to her stories you will meet madame bovary in this book as well as black oak s daughter there is also the story of glauce s bridal robe poisoned by medea the bee man tells a story in eleven succinct lines the suitable girl even sends postcards from the moon the voices in this collection are strong the dialect in terra marique potens is fantastic the narrator is a force to be reckoned with powerful on land and sea she gives birth aboard ship and then fires a muzzle at a flinty crag of a man bawling like the divil hisself all of the poems in the suitable girl are excellent some of the stories are heartbreaking in skin offerings the narrator describes a young woman s anorexia and self mutilation 4 00 am tells the powerful story of a young mother who is battling for life she leaves her mud hut to walk twelve kilometres to a government clinic for treatment she hums a hymn and wears a gaily patterned headscarf an astounding symbol of her unbreakable spirit other poems are humorous the escape artist a lord of the fleas runs off with the ringmaster s silver weimaraner one of my favorite shorter pieces is the recalcitrant muse who fires up a cigarette and could use a drink and a few hours sleep this muse is late for an appointment with a middle aged divorcée she is also a muse who realizes that immortality doesn t pay the bills did i say beautiful well take a look for yourself at the sample poem below the suitable girl has many faces sometimes she whispers her stories sometimes she speaks with her tongue in her cheek sometimes she screams each one of her voices should be read again and again she walks on water by michelle mcgrane the air is heavy with salt spray and kelp the seagull s tongue is dumb dark hair hides the face of the madonna on the beach hands like silver starfish lift a long skirt reveal pale knees a cerulean scarf flutters in the breeze she turns away from the promenade s ice cream smiles and waving kites shrugs off the dirty weekend hotel moored in the harbour s embrace her spirit becomes a sail her eyes are the horizon her bare white limbs shine with phosphorescence the stars lean over to plant kisses on her forehead in the morning haze wisps of fog drifting in with the waves she walks on water a blue strand washes up on the sand among splintered timbers plastic wrappings sodden cigarette butts perched on a guano stained mast the seagull keeps her secret the above poem and quotes are michelle mcgrane 2010 and used with permission please contact pindrop press or the author for permission before reposting from pindrop press michelle mcgrane was born in zimbabwe in 1974 spent her childhood in malawi and moved to south africa with her family when she was fourteen her poetry has appeared in numerous journals and anthologies she is the author of fireflies blazing stars 2002 and hybrid 2003 she lives in johannesburg and blogs at peony moon to order the suitable girl click here it is well worth the low price posted in check it out michelle mcgrane peony moon pindrop press poetry tagged beauty excellent poetry gender jo hemmant michelle mcg...