Death

The Cure for What Ails Us

COVID-19 should change the way we think about our mortality. Continue Reading »

20 Mar 2020

Sightless in morning fog,she laces fallen fibers of fan palm, bunchgrass,the birch’s lost twigs, spins an empty creation.Conifer needles, the fox’s hair round out the void,what was cast off and left for dead now the dwelling,twined with stippled space of eggs to come, primevalpoint of departure, . . . . Continue Reading »

1 Feb 2020

Requiem for Ethel

by David B. Wester

Your eyes sparkled. And there was playfulnessIn your smile that veiled your age,Softening the hard years with its warm caress. And oh, that accent—that Louisiana drawl—It dripped like summer-morning dewIn fields long in grass before harvest fall. You reached out when you spoke, with . . . . Continue Reading »

1 Jan 2020

A Distant Purple

by Paul Mariani

Mid-September, dear woman, and the monarchlights once more upon the purple panopliedbutterfly bush in the now-decaying garden,as it has for these past thirty Septembers. And once again, like the softest breeze, I feelyour gentle presence and lift my open handtoward it, toward you, hoping for a sign, . . . . Continue Reading »

1 Oct 2019

The Terror of Goodbye

by John Waters

The prospect of mortality shakes even the firmest faith. Continue Reading »

18 Jul 2019

Beloved Physician

by Peter J. Leithart

Peter J. Leithart reflects on his father's life and death. Continue Reading »

7 Jun 2019

We Shall Meet

by Benedict Kiely

For the believer, the ritual of funeral and prayer for the dead is more than just an exterior comfort: It is an act of faith. Continue Reading »

2 Nov 2018

In Rare Form

by Jennifer Reeser

Devotions by timothy murphy north dakota state, 192 pages, $24.95 Not a knee is padded in Timothy Murphy’s new collection. This is no minor point, considering that knee remains for the length of the volume perpetually bent and on the floor. Like the poet himself, these poems—religious . . . . Continue Reading »

1 Nov 2018