Five Points, Vol. 18 No. 1
Spring 2017From Mark Jarman: "I suppose a painting, a hummingbird, a kestrel, or a cormorant, as I approached any of them, is an object for meditation and an occasion for making a poem that will put the meditation into words."
Sample Content
Abigail DeWitt
The Sex Appeal of the French
I told my aunts I was training for an expedition in the Himalayas. I was sixteen, I smoked half a pack of cigarettes a night, and I’d convinced Miss Deyton, the PE teacher back home, that I had my period three weeks out of four so I wouldn’t have to play sports. The aunts believed me. Even Miss Deyton, who just didn’t want to bother with reluctant players, had required some finessing: a week of cramps, nine-day periods, five days for my iron levels to go back to normal. Plus, I was salutatorian, which made Miss Deyton more susceptible to my lies. But the aunts were my French aunts and I’m half-American. They thought I could barely spell my name, but they believed me about the Himalayas. A skinny sixteen-year-old with no muscle tone, on her way to Kathmandu. . . .