The property was maybe a forty-five minute drive from my grandparents’ house in the St. Louis city limits, but the contrast between the expansive country acreage and the tidy urban parcel led me to believe that we must have circled the moon and stars to get there. I can’t even remember the color of theContinue reading “Outbuildings”
Tag Archives: grief
re: Peaches
As we pulled up the long drive to my friend’s house, we were greeted enthusiastically by a little girl, the picture of sunshine, wielding a squirt gun and pulling the trigger as she announced that she was giving our car a wash which, indeed she was. We had come to buy a few jars ofContinue reading “re: Peaches”
A Chicken Gets Her Wings
Love, young love, I hope you are well. At least we now both Have a story to tell. —Keaton Henson, “Sarah Minor” I should have known by the way she spun in a circle as she moved among the pine shavings, even somersaulting as she crashed into the other chicks. Sometimes, she kept one eyeContinue reading “A Chicken Gets Her Wings”
I Wish I Could Tell You
As a little girl, on my sick days from school, the best part of the day was the half hour when I could sit in my dad’s recliner in my pajamas and watch Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood. I found great comfort in staring at the trolley while it circled the neighborhood, where I could pass someContinue reading “I Wish I Could Tell You”
Snow on the Corn and Other Things that Just Don’t Seem Right
I guess you only get so many chances, at least in this life. Nancy, my favorite chicken, went quietly in the early morning cold of All Soul’s Day. She had never really been the same since she had survived the raccoon attack last winter, though she tried her best to keep up with the othersContinue reading “Snow on the Corn and Other Things that Just Don’t Seem Right”
Afterthoughts: A Foster Family
It has been a few years now since my identity has fallen away. It was just a piece of paper, kept in a drawer most days, but it represented so much more than I would ever realize while it tied me to the words written in simple computer-generated letters. We had a family identification number,Continue reading “Afterthoughts: A Foster Family”
The Purple Couch
If ever you were a visitor to our family at the house on the hill near the university, the Third Street bungalow, or our current homestead, you sat on the purple couch, or, at the very least, took note of its presence. The purple couch was like an old friend. It accepted us, its people,Continue reading “The Purple Couch”
When the Gates Go Down: So Much I Wish I Could Say
I’m sorry. I understand. I mean I don’t understand, but I think I might know why. Not exactly…maybe… I watch you. I can see you clutching your secrets tightly near your heart as you melt, ever so slowly, as a candle burning to nonexistence, into your grave. I tried walking beside you, leading the way,Continue reading “When the Gates Go Down: So Much I Wish I Could Say”
Lions and Lambs
Darkness had already fallen when I finally made my way out to close the chicken door on this cold March night. I was almost startled by the nondescript, shadowy figure that mimicked my gait against the grain bin, until the motion sensitive light snapped on, taking me with it, back to the reality that itContinue reading “Lions and Lambs”
