The trees behind my house are old…very old……when the new neighbor moved in,he had many sawed down–claimed they were a dangerto his home.The neighbor stood and listened—I did as well–each thump on the groundbeat the earth like a drumwith no rhythm. Do trees hold a grudge?Underneath where their roots areContinue Reading

I. The raccoonwas early,before the crowded treesheld only warblersand the nattering of squirrelspummeled the lake in glancingdives, giving the grebes what for. Thenthere were still tanagers, voicingtheir globed remote golds when slywinds smoothed back the beech leavesand the squirrels were less feckless,cobbing their cones of pine in silentcovertness, near stumpsContinue Reading

The Dandies bought the house from a nice goth couple who just couldn’t with Mrs. Peacock Lane / Her campaign against them also began on move-in day & they both worked so hard at keeping up their own appearances the decoration subcommittee took advantage of their missing cats to poisonContinue Reading

Susan P. Blevins, an ex-pat Brit, lived in Italy for twenty-six years, traveled the world extensively, and has now settled in Houston, Texas, where she is enjoying writing stories and poems based on her travels and adventures. She had a weekly column on food in a European newspaper while livingContinue Reading

The great silverbackpresses his haunches to the glass,unfazed, chewing,the amazed faces of childrena natural part of his terrain. The children line the belledviewing spacelike a chattering fringeof tropical primate.They are easily reverent,nudging, elbowingonly to alerttheir fellows toa fascinating monkclimbing the realcrenelated trunksor combing real mitesfrom a crony’scoarse coat. All adultsContinue Reading

Cats abandoned Peacock Lane generations ago / There have been many attempts to re-introduce cats to the neighborhood & they always agree to leave / The HOA meets every Fifth Friday at a subcommittee chairperson’s house & is expected to be fed & watered with seasonal fruit & watercress sandwichesContinue Reading

Susan P. Blevins, an ex-pat Brit, lived in Italy for twenty-six years, traveled the world extensively, and has now settled in Houston, Texas, where she is enjoying writing stories and poems based on her travels and adventures. She had a weekly column on food in a European newspaper while livingContinue Reading

What changed my life one day was that I heardwhat happened one hundred ten years agofrom one who owed her being to a bird. Your first reaction hearing this: absurd,right? How could that be, and how could she know?I was suspicious too until I heard about the village razed, survivorsContinue Reading

She was a delight at her school dances but an absolute terror at the salad bar / She cleaned & reupholstered her designer handbags every weekend & spent her husband’s money on shutting down fundraisers for causes she couldn’t understand / Her hair was always out of fashion but framedContinue Reading

[Written in shifting text that bleeds between languages]ENTRY 1: THE TRANSFORMATIONWhen the books first gained consciousness, we thought it was a miracle. Then the card catalog started prophesying. Then the Dewey Decimal System achieved sentience. Now the library breathes.The walls pulse with plot lines. Stories seep through ceiling tiles. GenreContinue Reading