Rebecca McKeown Writes

Ramblings of a modern-day bard

[theparisreview]

I am not really a literary fellow at all. Except that I write for a living.

E. B. White, The Art of the Essay No. 1 (via theparisreview)

[universitybookstore]

Another Seattle cultural institution and proud Independent Bookstore, the great Elliot Bay Book Company!

[blackfashion]

[rebeccamckeownwrites]

[peytondaviss]

“Woke up this morning with a terrific urge to lie in bed and read all day.” - Raymond Carver

[trinareadsbooks]

The February Bookish Challenge 

Day 17: Your Favorite Fairy Tale

[ofthe1nterior]

peace of mind

[lancelotprynce]

[rebeccamckeownwrites]

Joe

When the girls wheel her out to breakfast,

She still remembers his name.

He’s Joe, but which Joe is he?

Big Joe—her Joe—or little Joe? Some other woman’s Joe?

They used to eat toast, she remembered.

With jam and butter and he’d beg her to eat a slice

As she fussed over him, over everything.

  As toast crumbs fall onto her lap, so do her tears.

Why is everyone so loud?

Who’s Joe?

She flings her orange juice at the man in the wheelchair across from her.

“Bastard!” she screams. He looks down at his hands.

Why does everyone keep saying Joe?

Is she supposed to know that name?

  The girls come and they stroke her hair

And sing her songs and she relaxes.

The man is still there and for a second she knows

He loves her.

She does not know why.

  “Ready to go, Joe?”

The man nods and one of the girls wheel him away.

She hears him say “70 good years together, what’s a few rough ones?”

And she wonders what he means and who he is.

He has a kind smile and he reminds her of someone.

She does not remember who.

- Rebecca McKeown

[fuckyeahjournalss]

[haleyincarnate]

Writing by rained-onparade .

[mysharona1987]

[fuckyeahnotebooks]

GvapI3eG5y by Sully Robles

[quotethat]

The past beats inside me like a second heart.

John Banville, The Sea (via quotethat)

[wnq-writers]

I didn’t know that bad habits could be people.

fadingoutfast (via wnq-writers)

[art-and-things-of-beauty]

[art-and-things-of-beauty]

Leopards by Arthur Wardle (British, 1864-1949)

[bookporn]

Jonathan Swift’s personal bookshelf at The Deanery, St. Patrick’s Cathedral.