Tag Archives: dust to dust

MARILYN McFARLANE: Circle of Life

Artistic, Submissions, , , ,

In his hospital bed, my father,
the hearty man with the booming voice
and a thousand friends,
curls into a shell
and whispers,
“Every day I ask the Lord to please take me.”
Every day he curls a little more.
From fetal ball
to fetal ball
the endless cycle continues.

Marilyn McFarlane is a travel writer and the author of Sacred Stories: Wisdom From World Religions. She writes poetry and fiction and occasionally explores memoir. She lives in Oregon, where there is a lot of scope for the imagination.

TRICIA SANKEY: Ashes to Ashes

Artistic, Submissions, Top Stories, , ,

It’s the way the toxic air attaches, he explained, through a puff of ringed smoke.

He requested I read my poems at the cemetery and I promised I would. Then with a contemptuous glare, he pushed his cigar down onto the ash tray.

My words spoke of spring and rebirth.

Tricia Sankey has traveled the United States as an Army wife while blogging her poetry and flash fiction at triciasankey.com. She managed to obtain an MFA in Writing from Lindenwood University along the way and enjoys tweeting her micropoetry on Twitter at @triciasankey. Her poetry has been published on sites such as Red Wolf Journal. Her short stories have placed in contests, most notably an Honorable Mention in the L. Ron Hubbard Writers of the Future Contest.

CHRISTINE HYDE: Rats, They Don’t Last Long

Artistic, Submissions, Touching, , ,

“Violet!” I called, holding out her favourite snack.

Strange; no head poking out, no answer. She normally comes running out.

So I lifted up her house.

There she was, stiff and lifeless.

I buried her under a violet bush in the garden. I hope she decays to grow it well.

Christine Hyde used to be a tax adviser. Now she’s an aspiring writer and hopes to start a course in Psychology in September.