By Cithara Patra “I saw Grandma in my dream last night. Oh, she was there in the morning.” My son Joey fluffs his pillow before resting his head on it. He pulls the dull white hospital sheets over his body. My heart aches to see my little boy preparing for his surgery tomorrow, but he’s … Continue reading Grandma Was Here Last Night
My dear dog, Prince
By Aiping Zhang My daughter Dory had been begging for a dog for years, but my husband and I never thought it was a good idea. We were too busy finding our footing in this new country. He studied for almost a year to become a licensed real estate agent in Toronto. He then found … Continue reading My dear dog, Prince
Release
By Kandi Maxwell A few months back, when I traveled to my former home in California’s north-eastern corner, I knew the fall colors would be vibrant. The bright yellows of the Quaking Aspen leaves shimmered at the slightest breeze. The tall cottonwoods hadn’t turned completely yellow. Instead, brilliant green and yellow leaves blended together against … Continue reading Release
Lusting After Intuition
By Jeanine Stewart Know your own happiness. Want for nothing but patience—or give it a more fascinating name: Call it hope. – Jane Austen Somewhere along the path of singlehood, solitariness begins to take on a life of its own. It squeals to be soothed, nags at me as I walk the half mile to … Continue reading Lusting After Intuition
Library Collections
By Benedicte Grima When I walk into a house, the first thing my eyes tune into is the presence or absence of books. I am immediately unsettled by the invisible volumes, and the space seems stark, lifeless. When I watch speakers on television talk from their homes and offices, I scour the bookshelves behind them, … Continue reading Library Collections
You Will Scream It At The Clouds If You Don’t Say It
By Heather Box I've been to what feels like too many whiskey-drenched nights, filled with shock, loud laughs, tears, subtle nods, and people collapsing in their grief. The way people work to create a silver lining so immediately after someone dies hurts so bad. In all the deaths I’ve seen, I have yet to find … Continue reading You Will Scream It At The Clouds If You Don’t Say It
My Time As A Hermit
By Michael Barrington After ten years as a busy religious missionary priest in Africa, I was driven by an internal compulsion to spend some time in silence, prayer, and solitude. I had spent three of those years in Nigeria, witness to unspeakable horrors and atrocities during its civil war. Delivering aid was a matter of … Continue reading My Time As A Hermit
Money Talks But Not To Me
By Debra J. White Money doesn’t grow on trees, nor is it in my bank account. I’m in my twilight years, recently turned seventy. I’ll probably die without a hefty stock portfolio, or wads of cash stashed underneath my bed. Just as well. I can’t take it with me beyond. Then again, no one else … Continue reading Money Talks But Not To Me
Hardwired
By Jill Sisson There were a lot of them, a small crowd of pronghorns, shining like bits of lightning on the sagebrush hills just outside the small town of Worland, Wyoming. I was part of a three-person crew of field biologists, all of us in our mid-20s, crammed in a government rig to inventory and … Continue reading Hardwired
That Smile
By Ahming Zee The fairest day in hapless mortal’s life Is ever first to flee. --Virgil, Georgics I got laid off last summer – the act of Murphy’s Law that is said to occur at least once in a lifetime – it occurred right after I had booked my trip to Beijing to visit my … Continue reading That Smile
Academy of the Heart And Mind 