224
cleanse
Lungs embracing the air, holding tight to the freshness of the air beside the running water.
effused
All of the cards I come across are gushy about love and gratitude, and I wonder how many times people's feelings really match up with what they buy.
flicking
Throughout the dinner, I need to deflect nasty, passive-aggressive digs. In my mind, I pretend I'm flicking away each comment with a fork like bits of mashed potato.
hovering
They're more benevolent, because they can afford to be. Treating him well costs them nothing and gives them the pleasure of feeling above him, bestowing favors on him in angelic fashion while remaining unsullied by his human dirt.
hypocrisy
He hears many excuses and even encouragement for obnoxious behavior, so then he gets confused and frustrated when he's punished for it.
stump
His job is to sit hunched at a table and occasionally be pleasant.
surgical
Renovations on the hallway look surgical. Pipes like veins and capillaries, wires like exposed nerves.
225
boiling
It's possible that there will be a flare-up over a plastic box containing packets of tea. The box was meant as a gift, but the recipient thinks the tea is low-quality and old; she would have few qualms about leaving the gift behind, maybe openly denouncing it. To prevent this, I slip the box into a bag: out of sight and temporarily out of mind.
corrections
It isn't enough for some people to enjoy what they have. They need to make sure you're exactly the same way they are, or else they aren't satisfied. I wonder how happy they can be if they need to police or correct you to be at peace.
parenthood
She enjoys two minutes on the balcony with a cup of coffee and book, before little fingers rap on the window, insisting on attention.
romping
For five minutes of intense concentration, she first needs to jump around for thirty seconds, wagging her tongue and blowing raspberries.
seething
He tells me he's satisfied with himself, but then I watch him come down hardest on the people who most closely resemble him.
slavish
There are powerful impulses commonly associated with religious people that exist among atheists too: cults of personality centered on certain leaders, policing of beliefs for purity of thought. (Are you the true faithful atheist?) Whether they're worshipping at a church or elsewhere, they might all be devoted to an ideology, one with little room for humanity.
two-faced
It's difficult working with self-righteous people, who hold you to the standards of an angel while pretending they do the same to themselves. One thing they will always deny in themselves and others is humanity.
