Author: Constance Patterson

PAPER DOLLS

PAPER DOLLS

I sit scrunched down on the old rough boards of the front porch cutting out clothes for my paper doll. My tongue is curled tense against the corner of my mouth trying to be helpful, as I carefully manipulate the stupid blunt-nosed scissors. My thumb keeps getting stuck in the stupid hole, and the stupid…

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THE TERRITORY OF THE HEART

THE TERRITORY OF THE HEART

This small oil was painted over an older image. The surface texture carries the remains of the earlier work, and creates something I like to think of as the territory  of the heart. We all carry scars both visible and hidden. This work reflects how the heart carries on working over uneven terrain. We all…

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ALL ABOARD!

ALL ABOARD!

My mother loved to say, “She has a loose coupling in her train of thought!”  Mother felt it was such a clever way to forgive someone their rudeness, and would use it when describing the behavior of those who took it upon themselves to annoy her by interrupting and changing the subject. This was usually…

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ANGELS WE HAVE HEARD ON HIGH

ANGELS WE HAVE HEARD ON HIGH

Wishing you all the joy and happiness of the angels heard on high. May we fall heir to their promise of peace on earth good will toward all. And may their message ring in a new year of love, kindness, good health, and glad tidings.

GHOSTS

GHOSTS

Ghostly images appear before me as I walk. The sidewalk is imprinted with silhouettes of fallen leaves … like small hands waving goodbye. … each one a reminder of the times we shared, and the blessing of living each day amidst such beauty. With every season Mother Nature, so gracious and forgiving, shares her leaves…

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TIRE DEPOT TIME

TIRE DEPOT TIME

It was time once again for my tires to be checked and rotated. So I wended my way through the massive road-works and decrepit pavements of Bristol hoping that Bedding Barn had not gone out of business, as Tire Depot lies behind it, and the only signage is a small sandwich board on route six,…

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LEARNING ITALIAN

LEARNING ITALIAN

Oy gevalt! Please save me from my fantasy life. Much as I might wish it to be possible, there really is no way I shall ever be mistaken for a sophisticated world traveler sitting at ease in a sidewalk café in Firenze conversing in fluent Italian with passers-by. For one thing, I shall never again…

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MY GET UP AND GO

MY GET UP AND GO

My get up and go has got up and went. It has abandoned me beside a highway paved with good intentions. After a year and a half of trying, and with all that free time at hand, my resolution to reorganized has created havoc in my household. Like the road to hell, the landscape of…

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RUNNING OUT OF GAS

RUNNING OUT OF GAS

We idled, imprisoned in traffic on an anonymous stretch of expressway. Expressway is an oxymoron if ever there was one. The vista before us was a dystopian sea of rear ends, SUVs, sedans, eighteen wheelers, box trucks, and the rippling puckered air of exhaust fumes. At three o’clock in the afternoon we had run into…

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TRIXIE

TRIXIE

We would walk almost every day, my friend and I. She had a sweet little black cocker spaniel who needed walking and I needed the exercise as well as the comradery. The three of us walked down little-used roads, country lanes, and decrepit old tarmacs. They were ideal for our long rambles and perfect for…

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