Jaclynn Loibl

The Pressure Is On

The play being called when my high school third base coach pantomimed taking a bite of something, was to intentionally get yourself caught in a pickle. However in the entire season, it’s obviousness rarely got shown, we used the play once or twice. I get into pickles with myself. My head spun after receiving aContinue reading “The Pressure Is On”

Crazy Cat Lady

“Your voice is mine. I support you 100%, whatever you decide I’ll back you.” Like doo-doo out of a newborn’s bum, my concerns relax out of me then head out in diaper bound for the landfill. I like our neighbor and all, but a phone call discussing his plans for pulled pork, chicken, and potatoContinue reading “Crazy Cat Lady”

Hello Darkness

After eight back-to-back appointments, I’m taking an hour before my final one. Mid-focaccia sandwich bite, the tomato juices run over my taste buds, and as they do, they jam their poles in and vault to the highest height. What I’m saying is it’s good. And what I’m also saying is I’m watching high school trackContinue reading “Hello Darkness”

Droopy: A Poem

Droopy, the eighth dwarf, weathered and calcified from the sun’s careless beating. Droopy, a drop lowering, a waxy wave of wonder. A candle too hot to return to itself flows into something anew. A feeble-bodied waterless man of the desert, pulling, clawing forward disappears. A swayed back horse out to pasture, the golden years thatContinue reading “Droopy: A Poem”

Unwinding Understatedly

What do I want to write about? I posted this as a writing exercise to my eight-person writing group earlier. What a wide-open question, and as of this word, I still don’t know. I’ve been clenching my jaw again. I hate that I do it, but focusing on relaxing my mandible drives me equally asContinue reading “Unwinding Understatedly”

Here’s A Story

Pregnant, far too pregnant women meander the spaces in the Hands On Children’s Museum in Olympia. One’s face looks like her seafood lunch didn’t agree with her, her puckered lips and an out-of-the-ozone look in her eyes tell the story. After a quick photo snap of her semi-confident newly walking son, the woman returns toContinue reading “Here’s A Story”

Starry Starry Night

The neighbor’s runway-lit house never gives the night a fighting chance. I take offense and am perplexed as to why the previous owners of our house chopped the heads off of our privacy-providing cedar trees. Do curtains belong outside is the question I’m facing. I suggest no. Even with my opposed decision, I hang theContinue reading “Starry Starry Night”

Make That Shit Magical

You know how people say, “That’d make a good band name” or “That’d make a great t-shirt?” Instead of simply agreeing and moving on, I actually did it. Not the band name, the t-shirt. After calling a friend to talk my anxious feelings down, she was all about self-care. “Put on slippers. Get comfy. IContinue reading “Make That Shit Magical”

Turger Burger

“I used to have a marble collection, did you? I mean, it wasn’t much of a collection. It was just a bag of marbles, but some of them I really liked. One was an actual marble, not glass. It looked like the world, but not on purpose, just coincidentally. And it was oversized, but notContinue reading “Turger Burger”

Personal Lab Rat

I’m my own mental health guinea pig. During an hour’s break at work, I stopped by Fred Meyer to fill up the gas tank. As the price steadily increased, I checked in with myself. Blah. Nothing much. Slightly sad. Then it registered, “Oh, I’m feeling depressed.” Recalling an email I’d left open, a self-care newsletter,Continue reading “Personal Lab Rat”