‘If you must scream, scream beautifully’ — 1. When you were 15, your father tore your baby pictures like old receipts. The ones in frames he set beside the dumpster. He put on his favorite record, made your brother a tuna sandwich. Whistled. Ten years later, a man called you a canary in a cage. Said, No…

‘She will never forget this: how powerful she feels in her own absence’ — Love is a pendulum that beats irregularly. The past is a broken grandfather clock. It’s a hole. She points to the bombed-out building⁠. Her tiny arm is a compass needle. She is six years old, and Beirut is a city where ugly and beautiful sit too close together. When she…

The author gets Chinese takeout with a man on a Wednesday. — Man: Gets into car with large takeout bag. I don’t even know what I just fucking paid for. You ordered $85 worth of food. Why did you do this? Woman: Hums nervously. Man: What. Woman: Flinches. Man: Oh Jesus fucking — WHAT? Woman: Coughs delicately. Man: No. Nope. I can’t…

My mother once told me I have a magician's hands. Punctuating hands. When I laugh my eyes crinkle like accordions. I am the sexiest I’ve ever been, sitting alone in this bustling restaurant, watching. Tonight, I’ll reconstruct your likeness and end up with a ransom note of a man. My…