Shorts

First off I have to say I absolutely love this style of non-fiction. I loved reading it, and I really love writing Shorts. In the introduction, Kitchen and Jones give us some insight on why this interesting and unique genre is so appealing to writers, “…short give us the opportunity to discover new voices – or in some cases, to discover the prose nonfiction voices of writers whose precious work has been in other genres.”

Gibbons writes in “All-Out Effort “ alluding to things from the very beginning, he prepares. He washes, takes out trash, sets out clothing, which leaves the reader wondering, why all the mystery? “To prepare myself, I brought back to mind the useable green of a meadow where we stood at night one time, where we could see the reassuring lights and sounds of a crowded lit room, and no one could see us: the moment, ad others like it” (32) Ambiguous sentences such as this, allow the reader to create their own reasons for the protagonist’s preparations. I wondered if it was suicide? A marriage proposal? The details become so central to the readers understanding (if you can even call it that). Maybe shorts are not about defined understanding of the narrative, but instead, about our own interactions with the text, our own dealings with the vague in contrast with the details, and the themes and tones that might be there, or that we as readers might be concocting out of desperation.

Cofer takes us down a different path were her short story “Volar”, she weaves two parts of her childhood identity together in three pages, an imagines Supergirl, capable of anything, and the little girl that still needs to be woken up by her mother. Some of the lines allude to the grader theme of inadequacy that are present, the desire to be something else. On page 34 Cofer paints the picture of a reoccurring dream, a supernatural picture of a twelve year old transforming into a heroine as she climbs the stairs, as a Superwoman she is capable, “…I could see everything…” and she plays tricks on corrupt landlords (34).  As Supergirl, she is capable; as her twelve year old self she is powerless in her ability to give her mother the trip to Puerto Rico, or to increase her father’s earnings. The story ends with her mother saying “ay si yo pudiera volar” (36) which means “Oh if I could only fly”. Cofer’s choice to include this line prompts the reader to come full circle within the story, and wonder if Cofer is in fact in love with the idea of Superwoman in some way, because of her mother, and her mother exposing her to the challenges that life forces us to deal with, challenges that could only be tackled by Supergirl. Or perhaps Cofer is forcing us to see that her mother is Supergirl, because she accepts what can’t be changed, arguably a very difficult challenge.