Writings by Catherine Babbitt
You are part and plenty, sunshine and illumination, warmth and radiant clarity. A vein of continuous vibrancy twining each limb, each muscle, each organ, each bone a million times over, cinching them together. A forever component that cannot break, will never wear, will always thrum gently, vigorously, persistently against my breastbone. Even in times of …
I blink, want to shutter my eyes, not sure what elseTo say. No words penetrate my mind. I'm uncomfortable.I need to let you go, but you refuse to release your grip,So I remain. Tender loss perambulates, quickens my heart,Entrenches me in grief, as if you died, but you sit before me.You demand something, a splint …
I remember the heat of him as he would Push up against me, Gin-fouled and Smelling of Camel Wides. "I love you, baby," He would say. "You stink," I would remark. He would give the bar-story of a Thousand words that would drip sour Onto my breasts, as he moved Closer to my lips. "Stop, …
Moments of stillness, when all things settle, like the vibrations of a small boy falling asleep, movements cease. There is a quietness here, after hearing this news, a quiet that encases me, as the loss I feel stings my bones. I knew him, my uncle, but then again, I knew him not, what I did know was kind and …
Time spent with friends, some new, some familiar—talking, listening, laughing, crying—here we are together, a promise given to me some years ago. To live this life with these friends, to walk this journey with them, with you, I know I've been blessed to experience such a life, one worth living, worth witnessing. Gratitude I'm told …
Our presence is translucent, unable to be seen, but present all the same. A puzzle piece to stand vigil, secured in the corner, but not as glue. We, who stand, must stay quiet and tall, as sacred totem poles do, in the night as wild beasts pass. There is little said. A transparent form we are, with nothing other than …
Children sweat behind masks, wearing frightening costumes, all to scare their friends and strangers passing by. Stringed glow sticks illuminate bulbous spiders with spindly legs and warped goblin heads with rotten teeth and foul breath. "Wear these around your necks," their parents say. "Ward off the evil and the dead." Giant pumpkins with jagged teeth and menacing eyes pepper …
Horizontal winds blow, invisible as they scissor through trees and yellowing grasses. Leaves trail in their wake, dancing and spinning, each taking their turn, their timing seemingly plotted and rehearsed. A child rolls in the fallen leaves, reveling in their autumn crispness. His eyes are vibrant and wide, eager for his boots to crunch the leaves' stiff spines. I cinch my …
