I’ve since broken many bones in my body, but the first was breaking my arm in my grandmother’s backyard. She had a hammock behind her house, precariously positioned between an old tree and a clothesline besides a bed of rocks. One holiday, a cousin and I were avoiding family and she pushed me too hard on the hammock causing me to tumble out of the hammock onto the rocks. As memory recalls, I lay crying on a couch as everyone ate. Finally I was taken to a hospital and my arm was diagnosed as “fucked up.” I resumed my Kindergarden career without a capacity to write.
My grandmother sits in the same chair every night. She reads mystery novels, watches “Jeopardy!” and does crossword puzzles from this position night after night. To her right is a collection of tapes, consisting of musicals and Barry Manilo albums. To her left is a collection of crossword dictionaries. Before we arrive, I assume mugs of tea in the morning and tumblers of brandy occupy the space as well.
Augusta Floersch
PICKARD’S
Smith and Hobart Streets Perth Amboy, N.J.
Neilson and Albany Streets New Brunswick, N.J.











