Category Archives: The Next Chapter

“Amazon History of a Former Nail Salon Worker” by Ocean Vuong

A simple list of online orders chronicles a woman's end-of-life purchases

Mar. Advil (ibuprofen), 4 pack Sally Hansen Pink Nail Polish, 6 pack Clorox Bleach, industrial size Diane hair pins, 4 pack Seafoam handheld mirror “I Love New York” T-shirt, white, small

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“Immortality” by Clare Harner Lyon

A comforting elegy without clear origins

Does this poem sound familiar?     Do not stand           By my grave, and weep.     I am not there,           I do not sleep— I am the thousand winds that blow … Continue reading

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“Untitled” (I will go simply) by Tess Nealon Raskin

A teen’s 2021 poem encourages the acceptance of death

I will go simply. Like moths peeling from yellowed screens, like a dirty plate slipping under the grey water of the sink, I will wait for my time. Not under hot, energy efficient lights and white sheets as flocks of … Continue reading

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“Mahmoud” by Maya Abu Al-Hayyat

A Palestinian poet grieves a family life that never came to be

“You Can Be the Last Leaf” is a 2022 collection of poems by Palestinian novelist and poet Maya Abu Al-Hayyat. Her poem “Mahmoud,” relayed in full below, is told from the perspective of a would-be mother, imagining a son whom … Continue reading

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“The Thing Is” by Ellen Bass

Instructions for embracing life after loss

The Thing Is… to love life, to love it even when you have no stomach for it and everything you’ve held dear crumbles like burnt paper in your hands, your throat filled with the silt of it. When grief sits … Continue reading

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“Abuelo” by Gabriel Ramirez

Finding forgiveness through poetry and creative expression

I couldn’t be who I am today if it wasn’t for you being dead. It was time for glitter, nail polish, and locs. Glitter in my nail polish. Glitter in my locs. You wouldn’t have loved me loving myself; my … Continue reading

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