Forms of Defiance | Table of Contents

Titles can be stories unto themselves. A collection of titles, even more so. This outline of contents from Forms of Defiance serves as a more intimate guide to your printed or digital version. Not included in the original printing, I have outlined it here for your benefit.

ONE: LOVE

People All Around Are Looking

The Sound of My Love      13
On the Occasions that Lula Sought An Answer from her Mother’s Bible Concordance       14
Proof      17
Forms of Defiance 1: Inane Promises Made to the Listener/Reader/Other Ignored, Broken or Abandoned But Which Evidently Are Irrelevant to the Course of Life      20
Windows     21
Extol Him Who Rides on the Clouds 1      25
The Complaint      27
Regular Theft or The Playlist that Donnie Presented to Cecilia as a Parting Gift on the Steps of Abbott Hall in Austin, Texas      31
Dr. Pepper with Lime        32
The Prayer Diary of Doreen Newton       37
A Telling Phrase if Ever There Was One: Juliet’s Exercise in Convergence      42
Plumage      44
The Ditty     47
Special      48
The Way of the World      50

TWO: LISTEN

People All Around Try to Tell Themselves Their Own Story

My Brother’s Keeper at the Funhouse      53
Lula’s Strategy for Keeping Secrets from Her Daughter, Who Always Overreacts      56
Serious Concerns or Weather.com Predicts Austin Tornado as Halloween Approaches       60
You Can’t Sit Still While You’re Trying to Swim No Matter What They Tell You       62
Forms of Defiance 2: Promises Made to Self Abandoned Due to Inadequacy       66
Wrinkles      67
Oral Fixation: The Path of My Personal Life     69
An Antidote for Writer’s Block or Retreat Retreat Retreat      72
Eggs     73
Two for One: Units of Meaning or Lula Tries to Make Sense of Her Life While Reading About Shakespearean Scenic Design on Page 28 of Book with Mostly the Same Name by Mark Rose      76
Because She Was Rich      79
The Cream Always Rises to the Top or The Hubris of the Envious Onlooker     82
Point. Click     84
Rule of Three or Various Ways Lula Sought to Numb Herself to the Discomfort of Her Responsibilities: Call Her Mother, Go to the Grocery and attend the Opening of Stewart’s Art Exhibit     88
On Fragmenting Family Myth in the Interest of Maintaining Sanity Amidst Imperfection, Sin and Character Flaws     90
Eyeglasses     93
Memoir by Trajectory: Some Quotes Concerning Fear from Mental Jabbering of Tabitha’s Mind as she Navigates the Repeated Threats to her Very Well-Being       98
Glamorous Bitch     101
Genius      105
Initiations: Grand Canyon Quartet     110

THREE: CHOOSE

Making Hard Choices Isn’t Self-Help in a Bookstore

Stamp     115
Prompts from Facebook: 6 Words to Define Your Life      117
Twist     118
Duty: A Study in Grammar      119
Forms of Defiance 3: Implied Commitments Made to the Listener/Reader/Viewer/Other Ignored, Broken or Deserted Which Are Irrelevant to the Unfolding of Real Life      129
Chad’s Room      130
An Exercise in Memory for the Non-Homeless and Especially Those Laboring Women Whose Contractions Have Shrunk to under Two Minutes Apart     133
Learning to Write: Divergence Gets Slippery     135
Big Bend      137
Talent      144
Mental Illness      145
A Metafictional Reality: A Tale of Metaphysics      146
Indian Blanket     149
Dust to Dust: A Prescription      160
Extol Him Who Rides on the Clouds 2      163
Jericho      165
Ticking     170
The Thing to Know About Coffins: an Essay     172