The Ungovernable
byOne thing I’m not doing in my poems: reporting on anything that really happened. When I say I’m from New York, Glaswegians say, “Oh,…
parenting
The JC Penney Advertisment
byshouts 4-Hour Doorbusters in headliner arrogance above the full-color page of bras jutting out at any middle-aged onlooker unaware of ironic intent. My six-year-old daughter…
Muscle and bone
byI was sitting at the kitchen table on a rare lazy Saturday morning—no swimming lessons, no birthday parties, no sleepovers. My wife was still…
The labor that bore me
byI have birthed four children. Any mother will tell you that birth is a labor of love and insist that the memory of the…
Nashville
byThe slap-crack of skateboards hitting cement punctuates the air. The town park vibrates with laughter, conversation, dog yelps, honking horns. Overhead, dark clouds roll,…
Rich mom, poor mom—all in one
byEditor’s note: Each Thursday, we feature a throwback piece from Topology’s predecessor, catapult magazine. In this essay from 2006, Amy Carpenter Leugs examines the…