the magnitude
My father would have been 76 today.One of the biggest challenges about my father, second only to being a passenger in the car he was driving, was buying him presents.…
once more to the attic
For the past couple of years, I've been writing what I call the Facebook Poems. I ask, as a status update, for my friends to submit words, and each supplies…
rest her soul
For a little while yesterday, her body was shaped like a crescent in her bed beside the desk. I would stop my work and look at her and hold completely…
to sleep, perchance to dream
I haven’t slept in six months. If there wasn’t a dog beside my bed, snoring through thickened airways or panting heavily with pain or wandering the hallway, clunking the water…
the queen of denial, part two
In the summer, we thought it might be time. Cleo was sleeping 23 hours a day, snoring loudly because of a thickening in her throat. She was suffering from arthritis,…
queen of denial
I’m about to lose another pet—my fifth as an adult. Their pictures, two cats and two dogs, sit together on the fireplace mantel; the shot of Cleopatra sits at the…
fact: everything dies, baby
for SheriGranny died yesterday. So did Natasha Richardson.Whenever someone famous dies, I am torn between sadness for them and their families (and even a little bit of a pang of…
how to lose
My friend, Jodi, lost her dog today. I felt a certain love for Molly because she looks like my Cleopatra, who is old and sometimes lame. I am always worried…