Modus Operandi

by Rebecca Seiferle

Originally published on September 1, 2001

from Bitters You were never to consider the worm itself, drowning upon the hook, in a drift of river or lake, or how it felt when the barb punctured its body at three or four strategic points. . .coiled tightly around the metal, so it would survive again and again your casting into the distance, [...]

The Argument

by Rebecca Seiferle

Originally published on September 1, 2001

from Bitters I cannot believe in the saccharine comforter, the eyewash of light,                                   that All, regardless of will or desire, suffocate in heaven’s wing. Even in my father’s decrepit Saint James, stolen from one of his many wives, its binding flaking away from having been read too much,                       I find no word of [...]

Law of Inertia

by Rebecca Seiferle

Originally published on September 1, 2001

from Bitters We’ve all known those transfixed a moment. The girl, so golden in fifth grade, dulls out, bragging of being a local photo-shop manager by faded sixteen. More than mere accident; some moment when time itself seems to conspire on the self’s behalf. A harried mother grows perceptive and poised, one semester of English [...]