This selection, chosen by guest editor Valyntina Grenier, is from I Was One of My Memories by Laurie Blauner (Pank Books 2021).
Little White Lies
“Lie, lie, lie,” my mother told me to make myself younger, when I was already
young. When I lived with her, she wanted to be more appealing to men. I never
had children, but if I had, I doubt I would ask them to do this. I would hope I
had better things to do.
There are political lies, no signs of global warming, the pandemic, weapons
of mass destruction, other candidates, fascist and white supremist hate groups,
sleeping with women, racial inequality, birthplace disparities, money, even the size
of an audience. Peeking below the surface can result in justice.
Do we lie more about what we don’t understand? Or about what we do
understand? Is understanding the lie?
Laurie Blauner is the author of eight books of poetry, five novels, and a hybrid non-fiction book called I Was One of My Memories that won PANK’s CNF Book Award. Her work has appeared in Tupelo Quarterly, Georgia Review, Superstition Review, The Nation, The New Republic, Poetry, and many other magazines.
Valyntina Grenier is a multi-genre eco artist living with her wife in Tucson, AZ. She works with paint, ink, Neon, encaustic medium, recycled or repurposed materials and words. She is the author of Honeymoon Shoes and the chapbooks, Fever Dream/ Take Heart and In Our Now. You’ll find her work in, Beyond Queer Words, Genre: Urban Arts, Impermanent Earth, Lana Turner, The Journal, Querencia, and The Wardrobe. Find her at valyntinagrenier.com or Insta @valyntinagrenier.
