blatant
What they hate the most about homelessness is its visibility.
commits
This evening, I don't have the presence of mind to focus during a public reading, but I don't want to stay at home and leave an obligation unfulfilled. So the words flow past me, as if I were a dull rock in a stream.
defiant
Two young children playing. The older one says, "Be the baby." To which the younger one replies, "Not a baby. I growed up."
front
He acts as if he doesn't take things seriously. But from behind his jokey, sardonic front, a grave concern will sometimes emerge about the world and his place in it.
hermetically
They haven't come to learn but to assert their own certainty.
indigestion
I'm advised to temporarily avoid chocolate, tomatoes, and tomato-based products, basically half my diet. (Just kidding. A fifth of my diet, tops.)
unburdened
Meeting a deadline, sending something off, the relaxation that follows, muscles unknitting.
