1. you are

         a. learning

                  i. how to love
                  ii. how to forgive
                  iii. how to smother

                            1. your mother
                            2. your father’s failings
                            3. your suffering
                            4. yourself

         b. losing touch

                  i. with the world
                  ii. with your mind

         c. still stuck

                  i. in the past
                  ii. like a crushed fly to the pavement


2. your fate

          a. is what you make of it
          b. has already been decided
          c. is a curse
          d. is a wound from birth to death

3. you often feel

          a. unwanted
          b. disposable
          c. guilty

              like

                    i. a dog
                    ii. a daughter

4. everything bad in your life

         a. is because of your mother
         b. was handed down to you by your father
         c. is your own fault

5. you are paralyzed like a deer in the middle of the road

             a car is

                   a. hurtling towards you at full speed
                   b. disappearing into the distance

                       the car is

                             i. your father’s greed
                             ii. your mother’s rage
                             iii. your own impotence

                                  you

                                       1. move out of the way
                                       2. remain frozen in place

6. your father holds a knife in his hand, your life in the other

              you

                    a. blame him
                    b. forgive him
                    c. love him regardless


7. if you could trade lives with anyone you would choose

            a. your brother, the matricide
            b. your sister, the martyr
            c. your father, the cannibal
            d. your mother, the righteous


8. all your life you have been a faithful dog. when your master beats you

              you

                    a. bite
                    b. whimper
                    c. deserve it


9. blood is spilling out of your father’s mouth

               the blood is

                    a. your sister’s
                    b. your mother’s
                    c. his own
                    d. yours

10. there’s a dead body rotting

           a. on the side of the road
           b. outside the family tomb
           c. in the bowels of the house

               you

                     i. are the corpse
                     ii. are the maggot