Midwinter Missing – January 20, 2020 Weekly
Loss and distance often feel magnified in the long dark of midwinter. Voices from the past echo while we watch the winter olympics. Memories haunt us on the road. And we learn more about someone’s importance from their absence. Still, even as we engage in a lonely, celestial dance, we might find something in our hearts to cause an earthquake.
"Winter Olympics" by Ashly Curtis
My grandmother always called me, long distance,
when figure skating was on the TV. Without fail,
every championship, competition, televised dance,
the phone would ring, dramatic music in the background:
turn on channel 5 she’d say, it’s on right now!
"Visitation" by Tiffany Belieu
The fact is
I’m too much like you
on the road. Never swerving, steadfast,
exacting. I can’t let go
"Our Celestial Dance" by Karen Walker
Down the hallway, the bathroom nightlight is a weak little star. It fades as he closes the door—damn toilet will run on and on—and then reappears as if clouds passed by. The apartment glows blue from the TV.
"Explainable Earthquakes" by Tammy L. Breitweiser
People lie and buzz about her in the corners of the room. The truth is she was a stubborn hard German woman who would tell you shit you didn’t want to hear with the justification phrase, “I’m just being honest.”
"before her mother died" by Lisa Reily
she didn’t know that her family was only held together
by an old plastic Christmas tree,
her mother’s pierogies,
and homemade lemon cheesecake.