Category Archives: death

The first death

Posted on April 25, 2019 by

The dog’s warm tongue on my cheek, the den by the window where the sun comes in to expose the hair on my carpet, the dust on the lamps, the dirt on my legs from the morning’s hike. Going up … Continue reading →

Posted in death, Memoir, parenting, prose, writing | Tagged , , , , , , | 19 Comments

Down, down

Posted on March 5, 2019 by

Down went the day, followed by the sun, the night, the moon which rose just a hair of itself, the kids, then us: the weights on the clock: everything goes down. They talk about the ascension, about what happens “after,” … Continue reading →

Posted in death, poetry, prose, writing | Tagged , , , , , , | 12 Comments

This time on earth

Posted on January 30, 2019 by

Where does it go, when the hair recedes—and why does it leave? And will I go like that too, without any notice but more a long, slow fade like snow thawing in a field— And are we just that then, … Continue reading →

Posted in death, poetry | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 7 Comments

‘My mind is in garlands’

Posted on November 1, 2018 by

Our inability to get our kids to do stuff manifest itself most in their rooms. This week, after years of trying, I gave up. There are wet towels, empty bags of chips, old glasses of juice, clothes everywhere they should … Continue reading →

Posted in death, Memoir | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 15 Comments

‘Wax and wane’

Posted on October 30, 2018 by

By the time we got to the end of October I was done with it. The Halloween decals on the windows, the witches and skulls…it seemed to go on forever, like it should have been over by now. The skeleton … Continue reading →

Posted in death, writing | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 14 Comments

Song to the dark lands

Posted on September 22, 2018 by

When I look through the trees at the park near our house they are all pretty much the same as when we started coming here—like me, a bit older but still the same, mostly unnoticed. And the kids were so … Continue reading →

Posted in death, prose, writing | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 19 Comments

The soul dies first

Posted on September 20, 2018 by

At the end of it, the wick is either cut too short or it’s so long, it falls on its side and can’t stand up, won’t light. And so much wax left, in the shape of what remains. This body … Continue reading →

Posted in death, prose | Tagged , , , , , , , | 15 Comments