Tag: reading

Sue loves holidaysShe scared the livin’ daylight out of us every Halloweensmeared with green grease paint and stooped overOf course when we bit into the cinnamony red homemade candy applewe knew it had been Sue under the wicked-witch-of-the-west pointy hatBusiness was business at ChristmasThere were 50 gingerbread houses to make for charityWith assembly line efficiency, … Continue reading Ode to Sue by Anne Sterling

Born aristocratof princely line,His conscience, andDivine Call said:Raise the call inclusive -All mankind is one,All religions comefrom One Sources.He lost all:home, possessions, country,exiled a prisoner...for life.If admitted error,all would have returned -He could notand stay true.Forty years held,to last breath,His word.From prison wrote:"...leaves of one tree,flowers of one garden."Some responded and continue,circling the globe,ancient enemies, … Continue reading His Name by Duane L. Herrmann

Laurel and Hardy had nothing on usmy best friend, Ruthiethe Hardy onetall and ganglywith dark, razor straight hair and big doe-eyesand me, Laurelshort, a curly haired blue-eyed blonde The two of us joined at the hipinseparableRuthie, clever and pinpoint sharpout winning and outwitting me at most gamesstill, we were best friends Ruthie,nimble limbedscrambling up our … Continue reading Still Best Friends by Linda Freedland

Everyone knows the story of Alice in Wonderland. Now I am going to tell you the story of the wonderful Alice. Alice is one of my three best friends. I have known her since 1980 when we began to work together at the VA Medical Center in Albany, NY. I was a dialysis nurse and … Continue reading The Wonderful Alice by June Hannay Kosier

my friend is widowed lonelyan introvert who hung on everyword her dead husband saidtrailing behind unableto reach beyond his buoyant,effervescent personalitynow gone, she is alone my friend is widowed and alonewhat now to do? rattle aroundin a house too big, much stuffsaved by him who would not let godishes for sixteen but none to invitephysical, … Continue reading Ode To A Friend by Mary Perrin Scott

Gnarled hands that cannot hold a glassA skeletal frame confining you to bedRavaged by arthritis inYour blue-striped, broadcloth pajamasA tiny girl sitsBeside your bedstead prison herFingers curl around the bars of her cribShe babbles and swings her chubby legsYou regal her with storiesOf your time on the railroadA conversation of sorts inTwo different languagesTranslated by … Continue reading Arthur by Linda A McKenney

“Bring thyself to account each day ere thou art summoned to a reckoning; for death, unheralded, shall come upon thee and thou shalt be called to give account for thy deeds.“I have to do this, Brian resolved. I have to be more responsible. I have to be more conscious about doing things for others, not … Continue reading The Resolution by Duane L. Herrmann

My resolution is going sideways. I promised my short story a final clean-up and send out. It’s my first-born fiction and I’ve kept it home too long. Like a preschooler, it needs to live in the world and learn to cope. Now my characters drag their feet and want to stay home. I cannot get … Continue reading January 1 by Diane Kendall Stevens