Teri, the image of Poppy’s paw pressing into the same place where the handgun had rested is extraordinary because it holds the whole moral tension of this piece without explaining it away. Lorraine is not dealing with fear in the abstract; she is carrying widowhood, state violence, gun violence, motherhood, teaching, neighborhood grief, and the terrible responsibility of trying to make safety believable for children who still have to move through the world. “My people are home safe” lands like a prayer, but also like a fragile inventory of what love is forced to count when public life becomes threatening. Grateful for the fierce care in this excerpt, especially the way you let Lorraine’s fear remain human while showing how women keep building forms of protection out of friendship, memory, planning, animals, and love.
TeriLeigh, this is such immediate, present writing. It's beautiful, it's heartbreakingly sad. 💜
Thank you Nancy. Your comment made me go read this again…as it has been some weeks since I wrote this. It made me cry…again.
It is that gripping and so real, TeriLeigh 💜
Teri, the image of Poppy’s paw pressing into the same place where the handgun had rested is extraordinary because it holds the whole moral tension of this piece without explaining it away. Lorraine is not dealing with fear in the abstract; she is carrying widowhood, state violence, gun violence, motherhood, teaching, neighborhood grief, and the terrible responsibility of trying to make safety believable for children who still have to move through the world. “My people are home safe” lands like a prayer, but also like a fragile inventory of what love is forced to count when public life becomes threatening. Grateful for the fierce care in this excerpt, especially the way you let Lorraine’s fear remain human while showing how women keep building forms of protection out of friendship, memory, planning, animals, and love.