WRESTLING ELEPHANTS

By Jamie Brisick

STORY IDEAS

On the sidewalk in front of the Eugene Lang College at the New School I found a piece of torn-in-half notebook paper that read as follows:

STORIES I’M PLAYING WITH:

LIKE A CORKSCREW TO MY HEART
(about the night Dad walked in on Mom having sex with our next door neighbor, the divorce, the move from Portland to St. Louis, my lame ass step mom, my dog’s untimely death, BMX accident, the sorrows of working at Plaza Frontenac, Rebecca’s going away party, etc.)

YOUR ASS, MY DESSERT
(about a hand that reached around, made a subtle adjustment, and changed this 24-year-old boy’s life)

THE 572 WAYS WE NEVER MADE LOVE
(about an unrequited crush during my junior year in high school)

MEMORIES THAT SMELL LIKE GRANDMA’S SEVEN LAYER CHOCOLATE CAKE, WASHED DOWN WITH DR. PEPPER
(a chronicle of firsts: first home run, first make out session, first camping trip with Uncle Frank, first cigarette in the alley behind Taco Bell, first break-in, first ass kicking, first 30-days at Central Michigan Correctional Fa—

June 21, 2011