Aging / Illness
Narcissus with cataracts
We can’t speak of a man admiring himself in the water without raising the specter of Narcissus, the beautiful young man of Greek myth who fell in love with his own reflection. He stared at his image in a pond until he died of starvation.
MoreCountdown 2020, last 24 hours: Old wisdom for a new year
We’ve nearly reached the end, folks. The last day of our terrible no-good very bad year. To close out this series, I’ve selected a gentle poem, May Sarton’s “House of Gathering.” It’s like a deep cleansing breath. I taped it to a bench in a complex where my friend Sister Pat, 80 and going strong, […]
More2020 Countdown, day two: Take me to the river
On the second to last day of this sad and strange year, we turn to yet another poet who died in 2020. I left Lisel Mueller ‘s “Bedtime Story” on the banks of the Rouge River in suburban Michigan. Bedtime Story by Lisel Mueller The moon lies on the river like a […]
MoreDiagnosis in, treatment up to you
What the Doctor Said by Ray Carver He said it doesn’t look good he said it looks bad in fact real bad he said I counted thirty-two of them on one lung before I quit counting them I said I’m glad I wouldn’t want to know about any more being there than that […]
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