I always assumed I was me. You know, my thoughts, my decisions, my actions. They belong to a self, a center, a person, that I have secretly known from my first breath on this earth. The me I would comfort in the middle of the night when I was scared of the invisible snakes under… Continue reading Confessions of a Writer
They never see it coming. Because she was beautiful in every way, to those in her care. She held them when they shivered. She warmed them with her patient attention and chicken pot pie. She was the constant in the darkness. She was the answer to their frantic cries. And they’ve never thought of life… Continue reading Dying Women
Toe touches the bare floor. A drum beat pulses through bone skin blood. Currents of an unpredictable rhythm tickle the senses. And she begins to dance. Hair pouring over and under. Hips and thighs swivel too fast, too slow. A finger draws up lightly, feeling every sensation. Blur of a color, and swirls of many,… Continue reading Dangerous Dance
Sometimes she lost her mind. Rinsing, chopping. Gathering stirring. What did all of it mean. Emotions that should not be making her sick with every cut slice chop. Her knife pieced the soft flesh of a zucchini, marring the vibrant green skin to show its unimpressive white insides. Vegetable triangles scatted in the wake of… Continue reading Chopped Up
He doesn’t know. You know the answer. You want him to know the answer. You know it will help. You know it’s the only thing that will help. We look around at this crumbling world and we see the hopelessness. Families are pasted together, trying to ignore the tears and scars that will not heal.… Continue reading Hopeless Answer
People love to love love. At least the idea of it. Caught up in dreams of bliss and ease, we desire a love that is desirable. A shadowy longing for a great love story that has been imprinted deep in our memories. A tale of love that lasts forever. People love to love an idea… Continue reading The Real Love Story
Hangs there. Invisible to the eye who looks upon. Heavy upon the chest of those who breathe it. She tries not to inhale that quiet air that she cannot see. It stings the back of her tongue thickly swamping shallow into her lung. Drowning in the quiet air, gasping at the hidden tears bleeding down… Continue reading Quiet Air
But I am a worm and not a man, scorned by mankind and despised by the people. (Psa 22:6) Small, disgraceful maggot. Chewing on the left-over garbage. Squirming in the mud, beneath the feet of people above. He writhes, they shudder. He drags across the ground, they gag. There is no honor in the disgusting… Continue reading Blessed Worm
“Why is this night different from all other nights?” the child asks. The golden twilight feels heavier than usual. Father ties up his sandals hurriedly and mother paces looking out the front window. Dustier by the minute, neighbors and friends suddenly stir up the narrow streets with suspense. Bleating little lambs, anxious shouts across the… Continue reading Looking for the Lamb
The moment it aches, you know it’s not right. Anger, frustration, it just hurts inside. Locked in to get away. Sometimes knowing where it comes from, the words she said, the thing he forgot to do. But sometimes unable to place it, any joy or hope seems too far away. And I wonder, maybe, have… Continue reading A Better Me Wouldn’t Understand
Cindy Koch 