by M. Stone Violet stood before Jonathan on the front porch, barring entry to the house where he was born and raised. “What can I do for you?” she asked with a lazy smile, flicking ash from her cigarette. Jonathan remained at the bottom of the steps. “I came to check on Father. He wasn’t at church this morning.” “He’s Read More
Tag: family
Diwali: Defining My Spirituality
by Theresa Nalini Mohabir-Pennella While the basis of Diwali is Lord Rama returning to the lands after 14 years of exile during which he defeated the demon king, Ravana; for me it is a celebration of my culture and heritage. An acknowledgement of my forefathers. The light of the diyas is calming. The tranquility it evokes re-centers me. It is Read More
I still forget
By Sara Siddiqui Chansarkar Today, in the evening, I had gone to the CVS store on the corner Market and Main to buy a bottle of the Airborne pills. A friend had advised me to start taking those in advance before my planned travel to my country, India, next week. It would help bolster my immunity against the change in Read More
The Afternoon of Your Cremation
by Leah Mueller Strip from bone and evaporate to wherever the dried blood goes. Memories seethe: your abrupt assault, your terrified love. Bulbous digits, teeth in a sawdust box embossed with an Indian’s head. Wishbone and sage. You always said I talked too much, though my voice never reached very far. I pretend you were kind, pretend you wanted our Read More
Your Arms Close Around Me
by J. Bradley Mitch asks mom what animal she’d want to be and I punch him in the arm for asking. The last thing mom needs right now is to think about being in a body other than her own. Mom answers though by shifting her body into a lime green raccoon. Why a raccoon, I ask. On our honeymoon, Read More
Elephants Never Neglect, Reading
We present these trunk-to-tail pachyderms reading in gratitude for Neglect by Sam Rose. Check out this sample, in case we’ve not yet convinced you to read the full poem: tail to tail, wrapping their heads around each other’s murmurings, they catch the tail end of every tale told end to end like elephant strings – Neglect by Sam Rose And stay Read More
We present these trunk-to-tail pachyderms reading in gratitude for Neglect by Sam Rose. Check out this sample, in case we’ve not yet convinced you to read the full poem:
tail to tail, wrapping their heads
around each other’s murmurings,
they catch the tail end of every tale told
end to end like elephant strings – Neglect by Sam Rose
And stay tuned for Things Elephants Never Neglect, coming soon.
Neglect
by Sam Rose Wrapping trunks around tails, calves follow their mothers calf to calf, toe to toe keeping up or gently towed tail to tail, wrapping their heads around each other’s murmurings, they catch the tail end of every tale told end to end like elephant strings tales unfold, friend to friend an elephant has every intent to listen because Read More
Elephants Never Infest, Louse
“Well, the bad news is that you’ve definitely got a Pediculus pachydermis – elephant louse.” “Yuck, totally gross, like it has some weird tentacle thing hanging off the front!” “Yes, you’ve found its trunk. On the plus side, once we remove the louse, you shouldn’t get a recurrence. Elephants never infest.” Don’t forget to read “For the Love of Lice” Read More
“Well, the bad news is that you’ve definitely got a Pediculus pachydermis – elephant louse.”
“Yuck, totally gross, like it has some weird tentacle thing hanging off the front!”
“Yes, you’ve found its trunk. On the plus side, once we remove the louse, you shouldn’t get a recurrence. Elephants never infest.”
Don’t forget to read “For the Love of Lice” by Amy Alexander, a story about facing life’s problems – great and small – as a family.
And check out “Leaving for College” by Kim Luxoro, a parent’s letter to her child about things to never forget.
For the Love of Lice
by Amy Alexander When it comes to terrible things that adults imagine happening to children – drownings, kidnappings, being burnt on stoves, toppling headlong into Rubbermaid tubs and not being able to escape, crashing into semis in forward-facing, failing child seats, falling off of cliffs at The Grand Canyon, being sucked into the ocean by riptides, placing dry cleaning bags Read More
Leaving for College
My only daughter is leaving for her 1st year of college… By Kim Luxoro Tonight when you were at work, Taylor, I walked by your bedroom. From the hallway I saw the usual dirty (and quite possibly clean) clothes on the floor, the laundry baskets full of clean clothes, empty shopping bags from Victoria’s Secret, and that overflowing garbage can. Read More