Vaseline, to get the botflyout of his forehead again.He’s had to do it three times; they creepthrough the sticky film to breathe. Do it, the…
For putting the coffee cone back in the cupboardwith its used wet grounds, I forgive youas I forgive you all your lapsed cleaning, the tubscrubbed,…
Rascal was a small horse with club feet, rescued from a slaughterhouse feedlot where he had learned how to fight for every meal. At feeding…
“The stuff of the world is knit—out of chaos in the first place”—Cleveland Wall, “Tiny Letters” Here it is, the week before Thanksgiving in the…
Little bird,your heart beats fastagainst the glassof the closed windowinside my porch.Hold still.My warm handswrap around you.I turn,take one step, two.In the open doorway,I slowly…
Only when sweat spatters the thin blonde tips, can I spot it— …
It used to be the afterthoughtat the end of a letterthat final smirk of wit, that wistfultraveler meandering late to the fair. That was when…
Like the last dayI would see you. Smiling— Wheels skidding on iceas I push you from parking lot to in-patient. Your handsuddenly becomes a child’s…
I dance the Tennessee Waltzwith Charlie,Old Charlie Blue Eyesin his thick tan sneakers.I hold him under the armsas we waltz, stiffly,two paces from his wheelchair.His…
I wrote them on adding-machine paper with ballpoint pen. I was always at it.Even before the reply to the last had comeI was crafting the…
That frigid Saturday midnightmy mother’s car rolledout of the garageafter me because I failedto park four wheelson the plane of cementthen compounded my errorby leaving…
We didn’t know what that meant – the future. Every time you said that word, we thought of rocket ships and flying cars. Living on…
He wanted a nighttime funeral. We thought he was joking. Connor didn’t have a will. He wasn’t the sort to plan ahead. His days were…
You were peaked well before Millinocket, and I shouldn’t have missed the signs. But in truth, I didn’t miss them after all, but ignored. I…
I sympathizewith the dining room table.The one that’s too big for the space it occupies.You have always taken care of itbecause you use it everyday,but…
—there was no release no parade …
It seems obvious to start my letter addressing the challenges we’re facing as a result of the pandemic and how it has affected our team,…
In early May, beneath the stars,the air is humming as the young, male tree frogstrill their love songs into the darkness—long, shuddering sighs of desire,one beginning…
The first time I saw her, she was wearing a long, golden, tight-fitting gown, the type of gown a woman would wear at an upscale…
the rumble of her feline songslips between my thumbsthis love like the windcatches me unawarelike moonbeams on midnight’s lakesoundlessas moth wings about the lantern’s bright beam and I’m…
Out there beside the crabapple’s shade,the tyranny of balls, bats, and yellshaunted me somewhat less than if I was closer.I heard a truck grumble down…
I can’t diveinto the gold of flowerswithout hearingthe petalshit the earth. It’s autumn, and I’m learning to processthe radial treesin their decay,the final eggof the northern…
My farmer and I had a bet this year. He said the corn would surpass the proverbial knee-high by the fourth of July and reach…
I lean at the lookout and stargazeas Echo Point shrinks like a black holein the cross hatch of bottle greens. huddled in my anorak I waittousled wilderness…
There were those brick cages long and high enoughto suck the daydreams out of our minds.The only hope was a glimpse of a cleavageacross another…
The dusty synagogue window looked out onto the narrow Austrian street belowUnterbergstrasse, where— what the world called Kristallnacht and Jews called the beginning of the end—began The photograph on…
He found himself in a paralytic state. This was the state of Ohio. On a billboard outside—well, if you’ve been there, you know. Along the…
There are no groves in Shady Grove In fact, there is no shade Just concrete and Costco and condos and Wendy’s and RVs and WalgreensThere is no view of…
A patch of gingko-scented snow rests like a cat at the foot of the steps,yawning tawny crystalsinto the muddy grassladen with twiggy leaves. A child lays two…
Pelicans, like pundits, draw you in to the curve of their pouchquietly chewing carp— under your feet sand shifts, as though earth were adjusting in sleep.The clear…
Trees foundsuddenly naked stripped whistled by windswaying, they bare it all like skinned bonesutterly devoid of shame From the mouthof the sky snow tumbles downseason’s…
we tangle around youlike cobwebs when dad passed you brush yourself offsend us back to our own lives time passesetching unfamiliar patternsyour capricious hearta walking stickhelter-skelter…
“This heah is my pusher; goes by Shorty,” she drawled to the two black-suited Jesuit priests and two women religious. Bell’s natural southern accent became…
My reflection is my father’s reflection stunning in their similarities pause, breathe Sometimes I can’t look at my face …
I am so honored and excited that I got to be part of the River and South Review team this year. When I first approached…
A symphony of freshness.There you are,betweenPippins, Cortlands, Boscs-The usual, dull, fall fare,assembled like a majestic choir,unapologetically singing: “We’re still here.” Cheeky,Yellowy red,Fuzzy,Vine ripened—The last tune of summer I…
Ann sat on the edge of the couch, staring at the packed suitcase on the floor next to her. The late afternoon light in the…
What do women who don’t take their coats offdo in the summer when it’s warm?Does Freon flow through their veins?Do they sweat through ice-lined pores? I…
The bird hides inside, tucked inside my ribcage,the feathers hide my heart. You can smell its desperation on me;even through the cigarette smoke and birthday…
A swirling, whirling dervish the sky cannot contain me going every which way Wild-eyed as Van Gogh, no salve for the wounds blue on blue burnt red on beige Calm…