Map Literary: A Journal of Contemporary Writing and Art
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  • Fiction
    • On Experimental Fiction
    • Mark Cassidy, "How I Met My Wife"
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    • Reb Livingston, from "Bombyonder"
    • Craig Foltz, "Without Stigma"
  • Nonfiction
    • Martha Wiseman, "Loose Ends"
    • Jan Jolly, "Through My Father's Glasses"
    • Kristina Moriconi, "Still Looking"
    • Wm. Anthony Connolly, "IGY"
    • Cal Freeman, "Loosestrife"
    • W.F. Lantry, "The Strange Beauty of the Unfamiliar"
    • Michael Roloff, "Accretion"
    • Andrew Sunshine, "John Hancock's John Hancock"
    • Diane Payne, "3 micro memoirs"
    • Luc Sante, "Flesh and Bone"
    • Isobel O'Hare, "Failure: A Love Letter"
    • Melissa Wiley, "Barbed Wire Fence"
    • Ashley Wilkinson, "fractional distillation"
  • Art
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LIZZI WOLF
​
My Brother's Therapist



My brother was sentenced to three weeks of therapy for pickpocketing a Zippo lighter from his first-grade teacher.

The therapist thought his problems were rooted in pent-up sibling rivalry so she invited me to one of his sessions.

I sat on a footstool in my navy blue jumper with the apple appliqué, my curls held in check by a ladybug barrette.

A blow-up clown holding a red and yellow target over his belly sized me up from the center of the room.

“Pretend it’s your sister!” the therapist snapped.

My brother punched the clown. It bounced away then back. He punched it again.

“See?” The therapist eyed me righteously.

I asked if she would give me a tissue.

“No,” she smirked. “But I’d be happy to move the box closer to you.”
​
Years later, when my brother shoved me down the attic stairs, I landed on the floor like a crime scene body waiting to be outlined, hair plastered to my face with tears and snot.
 

Copyright © 2017 Map Literary

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Lizzi Wolf was born in Detroit and currently lives in Salem, MA. She attended Oberlin College and University of Michigan. Lizzi’s short fiction has been published in Pleiades, Boston Literary Magazine, Seattle Review and Knut House. Her poetry has been recently published in Worcester Review, Pembroke Magazine, and Midwest Quarterly. Check out her web page: LizziWolf.com.

published by
The Department of English
College of Arts, Humanities & Social Sciences
The William Paterson University of New Jersey
Copyright © 2012-2022 Map Literary
Map Literary

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  • About
    • Masthead
    • Submissions
    • Rachel Wetzsteon Chapbook Award
    • NJ High School Writing Contest
    • In Print
    • Subscribe
    • Links
    • Internship Opportunity
    • WPU MFA
  • Poetry
    • Richard Ryal
    • Sherwood Anderson
    • Mark DeCarteret
    • Dennis Hinrichsen Poetry
    • Daniel Biegelson
    • Natan Last
    • Jim Daniels Poetry
    • Michael Chang
    • D E Steward
    • Benjamin Paloff Poetry
    • David Dodd Lee
    • Isabelle Doyle
    • Kathleen Heil
    • Leonard Kress
    • Lauren Tess
    • Cesca Janece Waterfield
    • Billy Cancel Poetry
    • Scott Minar
    • Greg Glazner
    • Bruce McRae
    • Maureen Thorson
  • Fiction
    • On Experimental Fiction
    • Mark Cassidy, "How I Met My Wife"
    • Emily Trachtenberg, "Plum"
    • Hector Donovan-Gonzalez
    • Christopher Linforth, "Zia"
    • Jenessa Abrams, "You Never Wish That Upon Anyone"
    • Eros Livieratos, "On Feeling"
    • Halsted M. Bernard, "Your Hands"
    • Justin Meckes, "The Gash"
    • Reb Livingston, from "Bombyonder"
    • Craig Foltz, "Without Stigma"
  • Nonfiction
    • Martha Wiseman, "Loose Ends"
    • Jan Jolly, "Through My Father's Glasses"
    • Kristina Moriconi, "Still Looking"
    • Wm. Anthony Connolly, "IGY"
    • Cal Freeman, "Loosestrife"
    • W.F. Lantry, "The Strange Beauty of the Unfamiliar"
    • Michael Roloff, "Accretion"
    • Andrew Sunshine, "John Hancock's John Hancock"
    • Diane Payne, "3 micro memoirs"
    • Luc Sante, "Flesh and Bone"
    • Isobel O'Hare, "Failure: A Love Letter"
    • Melissa Wiley, "Barbed Wire Fence"
    • Ashley Wilkinson, "fractional distillation"
  • Art