Dying

    by Stephen Bunch

It will be easier than I imagined,

like walking through the house

flipping light switches one by one,

leaving a swelling darkness in my wake.

It will be as if I ducked out to mail a letter

and stopped at the market on the way back

for broccoli, apples, and a red onion.

Sleep will come more easily because

tomorrow may be the last time

I clip my nails, the last morning

to match my socks, the last day to drag

the trash barrel to the curb.

No more aspirin and antidepressants,

no shaving, oil changes, or daily news,

no muddy footprints and broken poems,

no more leaving and locking the door.

© 2009 Stephen Bunch

Stephen Bunch’s work has appeared recently in Umbrella and The Literary Bohemian. From 1978 to 1988, he published Tellus, a magazine featuring work by Jack Anderson, Jane Hirshfield, Denise Low, Paul Metcalf, Edward Sanders, and others. He received the 2008 Langston Hughes Award for Poetry from the Lawrence Arts Center.

Red Leaves, Grey Sky

© 2009 Christopher Woods

Christopher Woods' photographs  have appeared recently, or will soon appear, in ANDERBO, BAP QUARTERLY, PUBLIC REPUBLIC, NEWPORT REVIEW and NARRATIVE MAGAZINE. He lives in Houston and in Chappell Hill, Texas. Other photographs of his can be seen in an online gallery which I share with my wife, Linda, at THE TEXANA REVIEW.

http://www.texanareviewgallery.com