by
Rachel Small
Father (m, pater):
1. a red skinned man who
peels work gloves off hands. 1.2. the
man who spent Thanksgiving
shooting a porcupine from the tree.
1.3. You drink the way he did, once.
Mother (f, matr):
1. a woman who went grey quickly but
stayed young. 1.2. the woman who cracked
herself open to have you. 1.3. a survivor of abuse
(and maker of survival).
Sister (f, soror)
1. the original voyager and discoverer of
world. 1.2. A golden star of success (your
sister wouldn’t be like this, they tell you). 1.3. a stand-in for
friends who vanish.
Daughter (f. dafter)
1. prime for production of future offspring. 1.2. girl
who scrubbed her face once with lemon juice to vanish
freckles. 1.3. the one willing to burn than be flawed.
Rachel Small writes in Ottawa. A post-undergrad student from Carleton University’s History program, she is currently a writer and editor for AtticVoices. Her writing has appeared in Talking Time, Bywords and Pulp Poet’s Press, and she has work forthcoming in The Shore. You can find her on Twitter @rahel_taller.
