Everything2

Set"tler (Webster), n.

1. One who settles, becomes fixed, established, etc.
2. Especially, one who establishes himself in a new region or a colony; a colonist; a planter; as, the first settlers of New England.
3. That which settles or finishes; hence, a blow, etc., which settles or decides a contest.
4. A vessel, as a tub, in which something, as pulverized ore suspended in a liquid, is allowed to settle.

1.
One who settles, becomes fixed, established, etc.

Her mother's face was white as the china cup she clenched between two bloodless, jeweled fingers. "It's time," she said, "for you to settle on one of them."

Elaine said nothing. She poured cream into her…

We know you better than anyone.
We love the slick sweat of fear
That your night terrors drip
On our upturned faces.
We have eyes of needles
Threaded with spider silk
We lance the blisters of your fevered imaginings
And slick our shiny fur back
With those…

I was going through my notebooks tonight, mining for seminar notes to review for my prelims. I found an errant page in one of them, from a creative writing workshop that I gave last semester at a homeless shelter. I must have picked up the wrong notebook that night, and this page was nestled in with pages and pages of science history notes... Just waiting. A reminder.

At the beginning of each workshop night I asked the writers to clear their minds by sweeping…