Philadelphia Stories


 

 

 

 

Father's Gluepot
By Nick Ripatrazone

Sticky heat clouds the windows.

He carries the kettle-boiled water,
a rag round his knuckles to swallow steam.

He fills the outer pot:
the glue bubbles.

I cross my hands
beneath my bottom
while he mixes the foggy muck.

            I’ll use this on your running mouth.
Nick Ripatrazone was named a runner-up in the 2008 Kenyon Review Short Fiction Contest, and his short story collection manuscript, Mustard, was a semifinalist for the 2008 Hudson Prize.  Recent work has also appeared or is forthcoming in The Kenyon Review, The Saint Ann 's Review, Hobart, McSweeney's Internet Tendency, Yale Anglers' Journal, and elsewhere.  He is pursuing an MFA from the University of Texas , El Paso.  
 

   
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