No Words Lecture Hall<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
You\u2019re not the boss of me<\/em> my son screams. He says to me, you embarrass me<\/em> and he says I don\u2019t want you<\/em> I want to say, I love you. You\u2019re<\/em><\/p>\n embarrassing me<\/em> I love you and I\u2019d Don\u2019t you understand how huge that is? <\/p>\n “No Words Lecture Hall” previously appeared in The New Republic.<\/em><\/p>\n Suzanne Paola\u2019s<\/a> (Susanne Antonetta\u2019s) most recent book, Inventing Family<\/em>,<\/a> a memoir and study of adoption, is forthcoming from W.W. Norton. Other books include an environmental memoir, Body Toxic,<\/em><\/a> and two collections of poems, Bardo,<\/em><\/a>\u00a0winner of the Brittingham Prize, and The Lives of the Saints<\/a>.\u00a0<\/em>Awards for her poetry and prose include a New York Times<\/em> Notable Book, an American Book Award, a Library Journal Best Science book of the year, a Lenore Marshall Award finalist, a Pushcart prize, and others. She is also coauthor of Tell It Slant: Creating, Refining and Publishing Creative Nonfiction<\/em>.<\/a> Her essays and poems have appeared in The New York Times,<\/a> The Washington Post, Orion<\/a><\/em>,<\/a> Seneca Review<\/em> and many anthologies, including Short Takes<\/em><\/a> and Lyric Postmodernisms<\/em>.<\/a> She lives in Bellingham, Washington, with her husband and son.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" No Words Lecture Hall You\u2019re not the boss of me my son screams. He\u2019s tired, and thirteen, and skidding into my and his sudden strangeness. (Who is this woman who leaves her wine out on the swing, crams wisteria … Continue reading
\nHe\u2019s tired, and thirteen, and skidding into
\nmy and his sudden strangeness.
\n(Who is this woman who leaves her wine out on the swing,
\ncrams wisteria in a drinking glass, can\u2019t find a vase?
\nWho asks him to quit the 80 decibel belching.
\nShe has grown foreign, and ridiculous.)<\/p>\n
\n in my room<\/em><\/p>\n
\nnever lock you up. Never let anybody shock you
\nwith 130 volts of electricity through your head.
\nStick the bit in your mouth, spread
\nconducting gel on either side of your fine high
\nforehead.<\/p>\n
\nDon\u2019t you see how that makes me a good mother?
\nI do say these things, in my mind.
\nEven there with a pleading, with a pitched
\nhum.<\/p>\n