In Short – Issue 5 (Spring 2026)

May 31, 2026

Image credit: Bottles by Judith Beth Cohen

Broken Things

By Callie Dean

“Why do you live with broken things?” my husband asks about the burned-out lightbulb above my head; the dashboard warning light I’ve ignored for months; my Kindle’s screen, frozen on chapter seven of a book I’ve long forgotten. Why, indeed? Laziness? Optimism? Frugality? Masochism? The hole in my blouse, the dead batteries in the toddler’s toys, the umbrella that never fully opens. He could be talking about us, too—about last night’s argument still simmering on our tongues—but no, he crosses the doorway instead, brandishing a brand-new bulb, jolting me into remembering how everything started out whole.

Callie Dean (she/her) lives in Shreveport, Louisiana, with her husband and three sons. She is the author of the prose poetry chapbook Metadata (Bottlecap Press 2025), and two nonfiction picture books, Marvelous Mistakes (Beaming Books 2026), and Unstoppable Song (Lerner/Carolrhoda 2027). Follow her at https://calliebdean.com.