“I had not eaten anything sweet in months. It felt amazing. That’s when I thought of a plan—a plan to get rid of both Peter and Karen.”

“Within this cage, the killing of her spirit was daily from being forced to speak a language that was not her own and to learn of a culture she was not born into.”

“Grandfather would step outside and look up at the pure blue sky, the wrinkles on his face deepening, mimicking the dry cracked earth as he searched for the clouds.”

“The Warriors versus the Cowgirls, too fantastic to be made up, and the mascots couldn’t be more fitting.”

“A low rumble sounds gradually then all at once the train rounds the corner toward the road. Wind rushes across my face as it tears past. In its wake, the penny spins from the rail, flattened smooth.”

“A man walked into an El Paso Wal-Mart, training his aim on families gearing up for back-to-school. Mothers were armed with carts with new backpacks, markers, glue, and notebooks.”

“Your hollow rib cage echoes in silence as you float into the endless digital stream.”

“With words about savages, standing too long in the sun to know what’s good for them. My mother stands strong. I raise myself higher, in proud nickel likeness.”

“Gram made a humongous cake which laid out in a thousand rains. Thick ribbons of water, icing flowing down ruinous fringes of receding prairie.”