Writing Practice

Prose, poems and raw ugly beginnings

The Beneficial Curse

My husband, Jack Wade, was raised by a brood of women made up of his mother and his father’s sisters: Agnes, Melva, Genevieve and Sandy— an outcome of his father’s death when Jack was three. Wade males died young; it was the family history. His mother constantly...

Ode to Mr. Koss

He stands in the back of the roomA veteran of warA monument of knowledgeMy teacher.  We must not look upon his faceNothing is written thereWe face front alwaysEven when answering questions.  His voice is unexpected baitFor our seventh grade mindsWe do not...

Scare in the Night

Scare in the Night

My first short story, written at the age of seven with all its glorious bad grammar and spelling. Charlotte Jahn lives with her old Aunt Henrietta in a worn-down old mansion. Charlotte’s aunt is a kind old lady who loves children. She is about in her seventies and...