THE WRITTEN WORD
The Written Word is a place for local writers to share their articles, stories, and thoughts with News of Davidson readers. Send submissions to [email protected] . Thanks!
First Taxonomies
NEWS Of course Adam exhausted himself.He named: fig, fern, orangutan, mica, mayfly,and then— clouds, cumulus and nimbus,Aardvarks, apiaries, aphrodisiacs, applesnaming by alphabet or phylum:vegetables: rutabaga, beets, and artichoke. He turned, looked up. Eve! it’s...
Widow’s Fire
NEWS On dogs of tarnished brass you laid our fire—lightwood and oak piled over paper. You’d spentall morning splitting logs; in your torn red shirtyou sharpened wedges, swung the maul higher,drove the steel true to the grain. It requiresprecision to split a...
Bloody Again
THE WRITTEN WORD So, it seems that someone out there is not happy with Jesus. One or many drove by this statue of Jesus in front of a church and threw red paint all over his welcoming stance. What they did not know is that his arms were spread for them. He knows the...
Thank You, Vasili Arkhipov
VOICES OF DAVIDSON Thank You, Vasili Arkhipov October 27, 1962 The world, booked in alphabetical order, lined the shelves of the dimly lit den where my brother and I dawdled over grade school homework....
On the Road to Dun Aengus
THE WRITTEN WORD On the Road to Dun Aengus Earthy smell of cattle dung and salty airas we bike along a path marked with stone walls,walls stacked some 3000 years ago. No one's sweat but our own this day,and that of other sightseers eager to climbthe prehistoric hill...
Ode to Paper Cranes
THE WRITTEN WORD Sadako Sasaki, age two when the bomb fell on Hiroshima, became ill with leukemia ten years later. She folded 644 paper cranes. Japanese legendsays fold a thousandpaper cranesyour heart’s wishwill be granted My Japanese studentsfolded gum...
Night Music
THE WRITTEN WORD The sky’s alive with you. Millionsof warblers, finches, kinglets flyinto clouds that cover the moonand cross the strand of Milky Way. Scientists count you, record your migrationand calls far above my bed and pillows.You cross oceans and continents....
Tumbling
THE WRITTEN WORD I was tumbling. I was swirling like a leaf, aimlessly drifting after falling from its home. My thoughts stopped; taillights up ahead caused my right foot to jerk left and apply furious pressure to the brake. I laughed because I was comparing myself...
The Horizon
THE WRITTEN WORD A poem offered for these troubling times. The Horizon Above the darkness ofpresent realitycovers me likea cold blanketMy steps are slowand sad But as I look towardan edge of lightthere comes a kind ofinvitation:“Walk on O childof the earth”...
A Good Question
THE WRITTEN WORD The other day my sweet, wonderful daughter sighed, ‘Mom, I spend so much time learning how to relate to neuro typical people. How come they don’t spend time learning how to relate to me?’ Good question. A neuro typical person, or an NT, is someone...