Shannon Costello

Wandering curling tendrils of cucumber vine grasped
At delicate lacy leaves of nodding tomato plant-
Less than friendly motive here, fragile leaf now firmly clasped-
“Come dance with me, my brother!”
Gardener, fearing loss of juicy fruit, luscious, ripe, and red
Drinks in smell of verdant garden growing in rich turned-up soil
Knot untying, gently prying tender leaf from [...]

I seem to have this idea that being 30 (a fact which I find I’m very conscious of) implies that I know too much to be surprised by anything.
But of course I don’t. Part of my mind is having difficulty adjusting to the Mexican-American War, or the existance of revolutionaries such as [...]

Chunks of fresh papaya with cottage cheese…wow…
We had a papaya tree in Mexico and so I ate it frequently. It was ok. A Seventh Day Adventist missionary I knew there described papaya flavor as one that didn’t fit American tastes, and I have always thought of that as a really good description. [...]

Over the past year my life has become enmeshed in situations best described as overwhelmingly complicated. I can’t figure them out.
What is it that makes a situation complicated? What is “complicated”?
The death of my cat last year was difficult, but hardly complicated. There was a fairly smooth linear [...]

Has anyone ever noted the frequency with which a fellow shopper will start on your same end of the store and proceed at exactly your pace to the other side?
Sometimes it can be really disconcerting…the last time I noticed it the other shopper and I wanted to be at the exact same spot [...]

My latest class is forcing me to bone up on my American History…I just finished a middle school level book on this particular war.
1) I understand better why the state flag is prominently dispayed underneath — but just barely — the American flag in the state of Texas.
2) [...]

Check out my latest attempt.
I have been reading a lot of middle school fantasy books with tremendous enjoyment.
CJ was out of town last week and slogging through the last bits of the school year has not been exactly painless. I was pretty frustrated and thought writing would help. So [...]