CHRISSY.CITY

my city, my rules

Category: Archive

  • Come take your toll

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    The pollen has been making my eyes droop.Sleepily I tend to sections of itin clumps.Chickadees and woodpeckersand yellow-bellied warblersare indifferent and happy. You say, “You can’t tell me what to do,”as I sign for the check,“But I’d actually like it if you did.” On that dreary Monday,we stack carnationson top of one anotherwhite and red…

  • The Limpkin

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    and what of the Limpkin, roaming (or perhaps looming) in Little Bay Lake.  Long skinny legs that seem to creep through shallow waters in stooping steps. An almost equally long beak perfect for nosing at the Apple Snails it seeks. What of it, and its light spotted brown and white feathers and round torso, crying…

  • Hymn

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    It was your child I held in my arms, beneath a sky full of fireworks I wish the stars could match, if we’d let them. When he was smaller, he called me Cwissy. He would’ve said your first name the same way, but you were Dad. Oh, there’s something about names. In your blue eyes,…

  • believe while I tremble

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    “And you came here at 5:55 am. I’m glad you have somewhere to put your feelings, even if it’s just this.” The parking garage is cold when I hug my cousin’s warm body. I don’t tear up because I know I will talk to her again soon. I will plan a trip to see her…

  • whimsies

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    My cheeks are hot againanger swirling and buildinglike the involuntary pathI take to the top of a pile of rocks.The view of jagged tree limbs anda pond in need of rain andwheatgrass and palms and pine needlesaren’t satisfying enough to pull mefrom the empty cans of hard ciderno doubt from a restless group of teens.Rejection…

  • The Moringa Tree

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    There it came and went. A week of drinking tea. Maybe a week and a half. She thought about it, with an urge to brag. I am not a coffee drinker anymore, she would lie to herself, putting the kettle on. Then she would say “kettle” to no one but the boiling water, with an…

  • my city, my

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    Espresso mascara to brighten my eyes. Speeding on Dale Mabry. Raising my hand in the middle of a conversation, but the words that pour out feel unimportant and stupid. Buttoning up a dress that smells like I wore it already, and by that I mean: orange blossom, amber, soft musk, and the woods. Every season…

  • Protected: Grip Strength

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    There is no excerpt because this is a protected post.

  • february snow moon

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    in my left handa green anjou pear,slightly bruised,still believingthe first bite will besweet and soft and wet.sunglasses and keysdangle from careless fingersthat grab too muchin impatience.earlier, I had watchedtwo anhingas diveand swimand furl and unfurl their long necks,trying to remember their nickname:snakebirdwhich is exactly what it looks likeuntil it flies with its companionto the droopiest…

  • Protected: Tea & Sympathy

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    There is no excerpt because this is a protected post.

  • Rana

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    Beneath the soft red glow of my kitchen light, as I make my morning coffee, I count the orchid blossoms that have finally fallen as I notice a neighbor (she lives in the apartments across the street) go outside in a long, gray wool coat. There’s a special protectiveness of people hovering around me with…

  • little dogs vs big ideas

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    Yesterday I saw a quote from Toni Morrison circling with lots of reposts and a steady mix of people agreeing with it and people pushing back against it. I don’t know much about Toni Morrison. I searched her and felt simultaneously impressed and intimidated. I tend to flinch at quotes like this because they feel…

  • the strangeness of me

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    Don’t ever leave me aloneshe finds herself sayingto the soft yellow-tinted skyas it wakes up all the cold things.I can’t imagine life withoutthe strangeness of you.I do remember this one time.Feeling like an addict mightbeing told to stop.I cried so hard I thoughtsurely puke will comeand fix these tears intosomething even more dramatic.But it didn’t.Just…

  • Let’s do some living 🎧

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    Last night I dreamed I was carrying a white tiger, past the age of being a cub but not yet grown. Her back legs dangled over my side body, toward my bum. Her front legs were more stiff and nestled in my arms. I don’t know where we were walking, but I’ve walked through it…

  • In bocca al lupo

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    A quick physiology lesson on a woman before her period: progesterone drops; serotonin dips; emotional thresholds lower; unmet expectations land harder. Admittedly, one out of four of those things is specific to me. Today, for some reason, my anger feels louder. Anger is just extreme hurt in wolf’s clothing, and I’m so tired of being…

  • Spill

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    I peel the sticky gel snowflakesoff the front windowand notice them in the break-room trashcanfor the rest of the day.Before this,the contents of my coffeeswam in swirls on the countertop,ice scattered through it,and I marked it as the first spill of 2026.A colleague says, “Off to a graceful start, are we?”and my teeth grit together…

  • Antechamber

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    Greetings! from this sealed chamber.I’ve made it tolerably nice in here. You’d never guessI spend the days wonderinghow long I’ve existedwithout you. It’s decent of you to finally decide to open the latch. Did you noticeI put fresh linens over here?And this fragrance that lingers under the oils of pulse points. Won’t you sweep through…

  • 2026

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    Keys rattle gently from the brass doorknob of the backdoor I nearly forgot to grab on my way back upstairs. I stop mid-hurry to notice the stillness of Little Bay Lake in its icy, dark blue state under a holy night sky. Humid air and a restless orchestra of crickets try to make this an…

  • The category is: body

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    I love my body. Not in a posing and flexing, cataloging curves and muscle kind of way.Not in a circa–early-aughts, paper-thin kind of way. Rather, in a movement-adoration kind of way. I first noticed my inner peace with my body in 2014, three weeks into a regular yoga practice in a studio that rewarded our…

  • Thought Carousel

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    Instead of swiping through a photo collection with the caption “Lately!” or “2025,”here are six thoughts from the week between Christmas and New Year’s. Peppermint spirits in my coffee. Arranging my mother’s fresh-baked cookies on her dessert table: Earl Grey shortbread, cranberry almond biscotti, dark chocolate–chocolate chip. Realizing, shit, the paper doilies on the table…

  • Under an Ultramarine Sky

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    Date night at the historic Tampa Theatre. While I hold your hand, I forget there are no cup holders or anywhere to put popcorn here. So off my beverage goes onto the floor. Popcorn must stay nestled in my lap. “The best popcorn you’ll ever taste. Really!” is a true claim. Every bite is the…

  • Arden

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    How grateful I amthat youinvited meinto your shadow-litrain-soakedforest.I’m not oneto persist on thosewho might resistbut oh, Arden,I find your mindmirrors mine,so I must insistyou listenwhen I tell you:Arden,thank you.It oftenfeels likeI existwith eyes closed,ears eager,skin braced,caught insidea soft-driftof dormancy,locked from myself,unwilling to facethe alivenessI can’t helpbut chase.and Arden,it must feel unrealto supposeit was anything you…

  • to live for eternity

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    It’s strange, I don’t remember Thanksgiving much as a family and I’m not sure why. I wasn’t a food-motivated child until grief and separation made me reach for comfort. I don’t think of holidays in terms of sitting around the table and considering what was on my plate. What privilege, I know. I think of…

  • “To be lost and to be found, that is the life span of love.”

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    Ever get so sick of your own brain that the only solution is to dive deeper into what it’s consuming or loving? Yeah, I don’t know what I mean by that either. IT’S A LIST, BABY! 1. A perfume fixation When I was a young girl, my mom worked as a makeup artist for Chanel.…

  • Dosing 🎧

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    I’m sorry it would seemyou intrudedin this moment where my feelings of safety have beenruptured. I have been told, “You are the eldestdaughter, despiteyour birth order.” I’m sorryit would seemyou caught me at capacity.I’ve beenholding a networktogether for too long, and I’d like to stop. I notice sometimes,those one or two line doses feel like…