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I can imagine
the glossy eyes

and slobbery chin
of that yapping dog.

It will probably
out-live the old lady.

Nonetheless, it will
disappear, eventually.

When they haul the
lady's body to the morgue

the little dog will follow
like some vestigial organ.

The organs, those eyes,
like small land-locked

fishing holes, will become
a reminder of

forgotten places,
of material remains.

Human refuse.

Our ancestors will use
fragments of their bones

to weave convincing
fictions by the hearthside.

Frances Hwang at IU South Bend

Frances Hwang, author of Transparency will be reading at IU South bend. Her story collection, Transparency (Back Bay Books/Little, Brown & Company, 2007), received the American Academy of Arts and Letters’ Sue Kaufman Prize for First Fiction and a PEN/Beyond Margins Award. Hwang teaches at Saint Mary’s College in Notre Dame, Indiana.

Location: IU South Bend on the 3^rd floor “Bridge” of Wiekamp Hall.

When: Monday, Nov. 23, at 7:30 p.m.

*This event is free and open to the public. There will be light refreshments and a book-signing.

“All the grown-ups burst out laughing, and then my aunt turned to look at me. ‘So you think I’m not as pretty?’ she said. My fingers trailed along the sofa as I moved away from her. ‘You think your mom is prettier than me, hey?’ All at once, she lunged, squeezing me tight. When she suctioned my face with kisses, I could feel the hot steam of her emotion. She was a tyrant in that way, her passions swirled messily together, making me afraid. To love and to hate was the same, and even the dog was scared of her.”

–From Transparency “Giving a Clock”