Smitty runs a small operation. Not quite a commercial fishing boat like some of the others based along the dock that go out for days at a time. It’d been him and Old Charlie for the longest time. But Old Charlie’s rheumatism had gotten really bad and he’s known in town as a pretty miserable …
Mom was lying on the bed. It was unusual to see her like that; she was always active, restless, a busy bubble of activity. She was on her side, knees bent, with her face in the crook of her elbow. There was a photo album on the pillow. I couldn’t tell if she was asleep. …
Wait a moment.The boys are laughing outside,Chasing leaves through the dust.Pale leaves curl around the sill,Like fragile ears bending to listen.I have your words in my hand.They weigh heavy. Just paper,A bit of ink, traced there byA cold and trembling hand.Yet I feel worlds between my fingers.Not just this one, but the next.I have always …
Halmeoni The English language has more than a million total words, but somehow it is still not sufficient. There is no English word to describe the feeling of missing or grieving for a person you have never met. There is no word to describe how I feel about my grandparents in Korea, whose names I …
Memory’s a tricky thing. You’ve plucked at yours trying to bring forth the melody of your sisters giggling in the morning light, the sound of roosters crowing, and then footsteps at your door to wake you for breakfast. But it tends to be all or nothing so most days it’s safer to ignore the …
On my way through and down and over the country roads I imagine what our world would be if we could truly replicate Thanksgiving all year. I’m not talking about being grateful. Not that there’s anything wrong with being grateful. I’m implying there’s something more. More than a day, it’s a condition, complete with smells, …
Continue reading “Eat, Sleep, Thanksgiving” By Elaina Battista-Parsons
To escape from the smoke, we had to get closer to the fire. It’s a paradox that I did not dare try to explain to my eighty-four-year-old father back in Michigan. Since the early weeks of the pandemic, we’ve felt trapped as if in a bunker. In California, with the unprecedented fires, the environment has …
Goodreads. It's the site you may have used some time ago and stopped, and/or if you're like me started using it only a year ago. It allows the user to record, recount, and find new and old books you've read or want to read. You also can write reviews and participate in annual reading challenges. …
I always wanted to go to a summer camp like kids did in the movies. The thought of lacrosse in some New England landscape was alien to every summer I endured. This was southwestern Mississippi in the 2000s; we walked upstream in our creek looking for crawfish, the stream cooling us feet-upward. The sun’s oppressive …
Continue reading “Sitting with Aunt Laverne” By Lyndy Berryhill
i remember how when you spoke english it grated into your mouth the way grandma used a microplane and citrus zest, all blender-juice syllables and sandpaper edges, LAHN-lee instead of lonely GOOD DEY instead of grieving & i remember the way your eyes looked like plums, soft, bruised dark, mouth curving in a lemon peel …
Burnt Pine 