<div class="line">These are the professionals. The ones who know</div>
<div class="line"><em>why birds suddenly appear every time you are near;</em></div>
<div></div>
<div class="line">the self-assured idols who can ask <em>Do you</em></div>
<div class="line">want to know a secret oooooo waaaa oooooo?</div>
<div></div>
<div class="line">without sounding stupid. I’ve begged</div>
<div class="line">them to tell us why secrets are</div>
<div></div>
<div class="line">given as gifts in obvious packaging.</div>
<div class="line">So much of falling is sitting still, filling</div>
<div></div>
<div class="line">a blank tape with voices of famous people—</div>
<div class="line">the mystic warbling of Joni Mitchell,</div>
<div></div>
<div class="line">the simple sex of Simon and Garfunkel.</div>
<div class="line">This is what it sounds like to be me in love with you.</div>
<div></div>
<div class="line">And because only Ray Charles, who sings from both sides now,</div>
<div class="line">can translate my heart’s handwriting, I’ve included</div>
<div></div>
<div class="line">two of his numbers, see side A, songs two and nine.</div>
<div class="line">He will insist, as many times as you care to listen:</div>
<div></div>
<div class="line"><em>I’m gonna love you like nobody’s loved you come rain</em></div>
<div class="line">or come shine, which, incidentally, is true, I’m gonna.</div>
<div></div>
<div class="line">The Mix-Tape: proof that love loves James Brown, the reason</div>
<div class="line">we turn to Nina Simone when sex fails to fulfill us,</div>
<div></div>
<div class="line">why, when harmony is what is missing,</div>
<div class="line">a light rhythmic rain begins to fall.</div>


Tonight

Go Get ’Er

Say it With a Mix-Tape

<p style="padding-left: 0px;">Even if the film was everything<br />
you wanted—the slow, awkward,<br />
man-child admitting to love,<br />
the three sisters realizing<br />
what they must accomplish<br />
before midnight—this is still<br />
the most satisfying scene, half-running<br />
to the john through the awakening dark,<br />
trying to hold yourself in, trying<br />
hard to be dignified, then, once<br />
the line in front of you has passed,<br />
dropping your pants, feeling<br />
the world wrap its forgiveness,<br />
once again, around you.<br />
What an ending—something only Hollywood<br />
could produce: surrounded<br />
by your fellow hedonists—<br />
a community of the happiest strangers<br />
you’ve ever had the privilege<br />
to relieve yourself next to. See the white tile<br />
shining, hear the echoing sounds<br />
of satisfaction, the knowledge that<br />
god is still possible, looking us in the eye,<br />
reminding us what a little coca-cola<br />
and brotherhood, once combined, can yield.</p>


The View, the World, My Mother

A Golden Retirement

Peeing After the Movie

<p style="padding-left: 0px;"><span style="font-size: revert; color: initial; font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, Oxygen-Sans, Ubuntu, Cantarell, 'Helvetica Neue', sans-serif;">There comes a time when even daughters</span></p>
<p style="padding-left: 0px;">must give themselves, open mouthed,<br />
open bodied to the tongue of a boy, knowing<br />
he will lick what he likes,<br />
and I (oh god) must approve. How<br />
can I not and still respect myself?<br />
Hasn’t sex with other men’s daughters<br />
gotten me this far? Doesn’t the world<br />
owe some pleasure to her? Doesn’t<br />
everyone deserve even this? I will<br />
tell her the truth (oh god), that this too is right—<br />
wild sex when you’re young and firm<br />
with a boy you know and love. Even (oh god)<br />
with a boy you will never know, never love—<br />
it’s mind-numbing, brilliant—usually (oh god)<br />
even more so.</p>


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May 9, 2009Telling the Truth to DaughtersChristopher Goodrich

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May 9, 2009Telling the Truth to DaughtersChristopher Goodrich

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Say it With a Mix-Tape by Christopher Goodrich

Peeing After the Movie by Christopher Goodrich