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Robin Stratton is the author of seven novels, including one which was a National Indie Excellence Book Award finalist (On Air, Mustang Press, 2011), three collections of poetry and short fiction, and a writing guide. A four-time Pushcart Prize nominee, she’s been published in Word Riot, 63 Channels, Antithesis Common, Lyrical Somerville, Poor Richard’s Almanac(k), Blink-Ink, Pig in a Poke, Chick Flicks, Up the Staircase, Shoots and Vines, and many others. Since 2004 she’s been Acquisitions Editor for Big Table Publishing Company, Senior Editor of Boston Literary Magazine since 2009, and she was Director of the Newton Writing and Publishing Center until she moved from Boston to San Francisco in 2018. Her latest book, Three Sister Stories, won the 2022 Pinnacle Book Achievement Award for Women’s Fiction. She’d love to have you visit her at www.robinstratton.com.

Gifts

Robin Stratton

I was in my 45th year when my dad said
did you ever notice that you always explain your gifts
and that’s when I realized—
I had a habit of telling the recipient
why I gave them the gift or
where it should go or
how it should be used

So as I handed him his gift he said
try to just give it to me without explaining
and I said okay
but I knew that sooner or later
I would tell him
that his new dog planter would be perfect
on the second to bottom step
on the left side of his front porch.

— Robin Stratton

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