A StoryBy Li-Young LeeSad is the man who is asked for a story and can’t come up with one. His five-year-old son waits in his...LivingGrowing OldParenthoodRelationshipsFamily & AncestorsDisappointment
p1Restricted Fragile MaterialsBy Catherine BarnettIt should be easy, I tell my son, to dispose of the possessions kept in these rooms. I’ve left some ...LivingDeathGrowing OldParenthood
A Bird in BishopswoodBy John TickhillIn springtime, chief of all seasons, in May when new joys rise and flourish, the sun is lord and messenger...LoveHeartache & LossUnrequited LoveNatureSpringAnimalsLandscapes & PastoralsSocial CommentariesClassTown & Country LifeLivingGrowing OldLife ChoicesSorrow & GrievingActivitiesSports & Outdoor Activities + 9 more
p1AbracadabraBy Kara van de GraafHow many hours have I wasted trying to turn this into that, a rabbit and a hat, a woman whose body can...LivingGrowing OldThe Body
p1Fourth Wall ArpeggioBy A. Van JordanLately, my friends ask me, out of love, have I written about my mother, who suffers under the storm ...LivingGrowing OldHealth & IllnessMidlifeThe MindRelationshipsFamily & AncestorsVerse FormsSestinaStanza FormsMixedTechniquesImageryMetaphor + 7 more
Secret Anti-Aging FormulaBy Jennifer PradoHer skin never wrinkled And I used to wonder why Her skin never wrinkled As every year passed by Look...LivingGrowing OldYouthThe BodyRelationshipsFamily & Ancestors
p1RomanceBy Susan BrowneI swim my laps today, slowly, slowly, reaching my arms out & over, my fleshly oars, the water silken...LivingGrowing OldThe BodyTime & BrevityActivitiesSports & Outdoor ActivitiesMetersFree VerseTechniquesImageryGratitudeJoy & Contentment + 5 more
p1The StairBy Kevin Young The heart, it hoards— how I know this— The small, strangled shining room Keats lost his life in—and...ReligionThe SpiritualLivingDeathGrowing OldThe BodyTime & BrevityRelationshipsFamily & AncestorsArts & SciencesReading & BooksStanza FormsTercetMetersFree VerseTechniquesImageryMetaphor + 11 more
Portrait of a LadyBy T. S. EliotI Among the smoke and fog of a December afternoon You have the scene arrange itself — as it will seem...LoveBreak-ups & Vexed LoveHeartache & LossRealistic & ComplicatedLivingDeathGrowing OldTime & BrevityRelationshipsMen & WomenArts & SciencesPoetry & PoetsStanza FormsMixed + 7 more
GerontionBy T. S. EliotHere I am, an old man in a dry month, Being read to by a boy, waiting for rain. I was neither at the...Social CommentariesWar & ConflictLivingGrowing OldTime & BrevityMetersFree VerseAnxiety & InsecurityDisappointmentGrief + 3 more
The MysteryBy Margaret Steele AndersonThis is your cup—the cup assigned to you From the beginning. Nay, my child, I know How much of that ...LivingGrowing OldSorrow & Grieving
From Migrations: "in the migrations of red carnations"By Gloria Gervitzin the migrations of red carnations where songs burst from long-beaked birds and apples rot before the...ReligionJudaismLivingGrowing OldTime & BrevityRelationshipsFamily & Ancestors
Listen to What I Am Saying, Not What I SayBy Joanna FuhrmanTry to fold your memories as if you were handling your mother’s underwear or as if the memories were...LivingGrowing OldTime & Brevity
Epistle: LeavingBy Kerrin McCaddenDear train wreck, dear terrible engines, dear spilled freight, dear unbelievable mess, all these years...LivingComing of AgeGrowing OldYouthTime & BrevityRelationshipsHome Life
Uncle’s First RabbitBy Lorna Dee CervantesHe was a good boy making his way through the Santa Barbara pines, sighting the blast of fluff as he ...LivingGrowing OldSorrow & GrievingAngerBlameGrief
Mortal showerBy Bob HicokI met my butt in a Pittsburgh hotel room. My face still looks like my face but not my butt, my hair ...NatureLivingGrowing OldThe Body
After the MealBy Bert Meyers1 A suburb of coffee cups; napkins, those crumpled hills; silverware, freeways spotted with grease, ...LivingGrowing OldActivitiesEating & Drinking
p1My Perimenopausal Body Cistern Disappointing How SurprisingBy Gabrielle CalvocoressiBled all day. Stopped bleeding. Bled some more. Went to the doctor who reached inside the woman body...Social CommentariesGender & SexualityLivingGrowing Old
p1ParthenogenesisBy Stevie EdwardsWhen my mother was young, she feared she was such a good Christian girl God might grow his new son inside...LivingGrowing OldLife ChoicesTime & BrevityRelationshipsFamily & Ancestors
p1As a Child, You Worried You Would Be an OrphanBy Charlotte PenceNow in your fifties, the parents have passed to that passive phrase, that elusive place. The branches...LivingComing of AgeDeathGrowing OldSorrow & GrievingYouthRelationshipsFamily & AncestorsAnxiety & InsecurityGrief + 3 more