Definitions The hard thing

Tithi Luadthong

Definitions

CHRISTIAN VINSON

tradition /trəˈdiSH(ə)n/, n. hopping in the lifted pickup and heading out of town; the windows ruled down and the radio cranked up; Genoa cemetery as the sun sets; Easter, hunting lizards instead of eggs; something special until it’s shit.

safety /ˈsāftē/, n. lingering warmth from the sun, promising its return the next day; wet sage dancing with the air; the serenity of the desert snow globe before it breaks.

family /ˈfam(ə)lē/, n. 1. all the descendants of a common ancestor. 2. the sound of a bottle shattering and mom’s screams coming from behind the truck; mom’s nose and a 40oz. Old English, both broken; dad’s eyes saying, “shut up or you’re next”.

Christian Vinson is an undergraduate student studying Professional and Creative Writing at Central Washington University. With an alcoholic father and a drug-addicted mother, Christian Vinson had a tumultuous childhood. Vinson uses his upbringing as a driving force in his work. Vinsons writes poetry, fiction, and creative nonfiction. He is planning on pursuing his MFA upon completion of his undergraduate program.

Born in Carson City, Nevada, he spent his first fourteen years bouncing around unstable households across the Pacific Northwest. Vinson lost contact with his mother when he was five, and his father died when he was fourteen. During his last four years of high school, he resided with his stepmother and her abusive boyfriend. He currently resides in the Seattle area. Vinson is currently an unpublished writer.

The hard thing

CHRISTIAN VINSON

was not seeing you dead. Vision: ya, I have that; it blinds me. The past is a sin unforgotten called father, and love for you, in spite of you is the fight in my heart, fight like you did with mom. How to grieve for you? Who even are you? Do I remember joy, the days you showed love, or maybe, the golf club to mom’s gut? Did you forgive yourself for open wounds, which would never heal again? Because honestly I am trying now to hold onto you. I try because I refuse to see.

Tithi Luadthong