When I was 17, I wrote a novel that got published a few years later. It wasn’t in press for very long, and then it spent a long time existing mostly in my basement (moving between several basements). Last year, I scanned it and cleaned it up a little; now I’m posting it here, in…
Author: Clio
at the edge of the rushes
i wanted to show you what my face looked like behind the mask but i was afraid that you would turn me away just like the ones i knew when i was a child like the girls who laughed at my shows of femininity at my tears at the dolls that rocked me to sleep…
The fog
I was told to fear the darkness. I was never warned about the fog, but the fog is full of monsters waiting behind the wisps. The darkness has a name. It slips from beneath our feet and leaves us sliding down, into the abyss. The darkness tastes of anguish and smells of regret. We can…
Trans-Friendly Pronouns: An infographic
I designed this for teachers who prefer a visual summary of the key ideas on pronoun use for transgender and nonbinary students. I also have longer text-based pieces for those who want more details: Non-Binary Students; Non-Binary “They” and Style Guides; Non-Binary Students and Pronouns (Infographic last revised 5/23/21.)
tattoo on my soul
the name you gave me is a tattoo on my soul. and i know you went to the studio, thumbed through the book, debated and discussed, argued amongst yourselves: torn between the unicorn with the rose and the steampunk mermaid. i know this tattoo on my soul honors a beloved aunt that died before i…
Degendering your language: An infographic
I designed this for teachers who prefer a visual summary of the key ideas on degendering language. I also have longer text-based pieces for those who want more details: Non-Binary Students; Non-Binary “They” and Style Guides; Non-Binary Students and Pronouns. A separate issue: “Parents” can be problematic because not all of your students will have or live…
symbiotic haze
was it you who dreamed of me this time? we were trapped in a symbiotic haze our semiotic ways stretched out like fingertips to fill the gap between us was it you, indeed? because i remember the details of our shared moments so clearly: i want to own these moments, to coddle them, to watch…
beneath the rage there is beauty
behind the rage there is beauty the fires that burn bright hide the quiet of the afterdawn that settles into the crevices between the then and the to be and in that quiet, a gentle voice wonders: was it always this hard to sleep? were the dreams always this complex? whatever happened to the innocence…
my masc is a mask
my masc is a mask that protects the little girl inside with pointed spines and puts her in a cage inside his beating heart “I never meant to be like this,” he says in quiet tones, “I only meant to keep her safe from the harsh realities of life, but somehow, as days went by,…
Math Education and One True Wayism
This is a common criticism of Common Core (CCSS): It offers these strange new methods that students must use. Except… only the first part of that is true. CCSS does offers some new strategies, but it doesn’t say that students have to use them. This article isn’t a defense of CCSS, by the way. It’s…