juxtaposition
tender_square mixing batter for banana bread while headbanging to rage against the machine. 220215
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tender_square at noon, standing at the juncture where the central campus meets downtown in michigan’s most progressive city. the burton tower carillion reverberating off the stone edifices. i panorama-ed standing in one spot, taking in the beauty of bodies bustling in the early spring weather, the noise and crush of living, thoughts shifting to vulnerability: where would i hide if a mass shooter was firing, what if one of the cars hopped the curb to plow through pedestrians? i shook my head to discard the worries, walked back to work.

at 8 that evening, standing at the juncture where the produce section meets the dry goods in the automotive capital of canada. studying the curve of immature bananas spooning symmetrically in wicker baskets. i panorama-ed in the parking lot, taking in the prosaic chatter and rhythmic patter of intersecting lives in errand, thoughts shifting to immanence: when did i register the disparate nature of two countries that, on the surface, hadn’t ever appeared dissimilar? when did my origins win out within me? i let the light filter though the transparencies that lingered beneath my ribs. 		220319
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tender_square a rainbow streaking above the roof of the house as i’m swearing at a racoon the size of a large-breed puppy to get away from the dormer, where it wants to nest now that the sun is rising. 220605
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raze reading angry words while listening to a children's choir sing about jesus. 220605
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tender_square a man, openly carrying a glock in the gun holster on his jeans, asking at a yard sale “is that a cotton-candy machine?” 220611
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tender_square a man in a fashionable windbreaker sits on a secluded fitness station in the park, scrolling his phone and smoking a cigarette. 220706
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tender_square an unsecured shotgun leaning against the inner wall of a well-stocked pantry. 220729
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nr in some ways i feel like i'm the most secure i've ever been; in other ways the most fucked_up. 220801
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e_o_i Same, sort of. Or that this summer I'm lazy but doing a lot of things? 220801
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tender_square i would rather be working on labour day. 220905
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tender_square somber meditation as three voices harmonized hymns, their song smoke filling a near-empty cathedral, followed by greasy food in a double-wide trailer with khaleeji pop blaring and too many men arguing about politics. 221003
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tender_square on monday, he told his father about their upcoming separation when he called from across the country to wish him a happy birthday. on friday, sitting across the dinner table from her father, she told him she was moving home for a few months but didn’t have the heart to go into why. 221007
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tender_square salsa music as soundtrack during the open-skate at an ice rink. 221102
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raze growling an improvised love song over a punishing death metal grind. 221103
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tender_square screaming "OH MY GOD!" in a bible-thumping thrift store upon running into a friend i hadn’t seen in ten years, who was in town from montreal to visit family. 221228
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nr outwardly and somewhat inwardly energetic and excited and aware of newness and possibilities

it's unclear where exactly the layer of sadness sits but it never fails to remind you that it's most likely a permanent fixture 		230228
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tender_square packing up the vinyl to move with me into canada while spinning wings' "over america." 230318
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tender_square the tenant singing "don't let me down" off key. (it's a little too late for that, bro.) 230503
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tender_square meeting my ex's new neighbours while helping him move in stuff and having to explain to the married couple that although today is technically our seven-year wedding anniversary, our divorce is being finalized next week and he is moving into the property alone. 230514
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tender_square sobbing and sniffling in my bedroom about loss and change while the tenant cackles loudly above me watching old reruns. 230519
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tender_square the loudmouth tenant singing "the sound of silence." 230823
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raze having a breakup conversation on the national day for truth and reconciliation (belatedly observed today, since it fell on saturday). 231002
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raze someone giving straightforward, seemingly heartfelt advice on the "html" blathe while calling themselves "i ♥ my cock".

i mean, i guess if you have a penis, you *should* love the thing, since you're all it's got. but still. 		231020
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