Category Archives: The Next Chapter

Mary Oliver’s “Heavy” Speaks to the Weight of Grief

The poet eloquently conveys the dizzying effect of loss
Posted on May 1, 2024 by Kathleen Clohessy Editor-in Chief/SevenPonds

That time I thought I could not go any closer to grief without dying I went closer, and I did not die. Surely God had his hand in this, as well as friends. Still, I was bent, and my laughter, … Continue reading →

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“Torch” by Catherine Broadwall

Poem explores the annual fire season’s impact on thousands across North America
Posted on April 4, 2024 by Rachel Jones (Blog Writer, SevenPonds)

  Outside my window is a gold, gold tree. Its leaves are not ombré. They are solid gold. Like a kid might color in      a sun with yellow crayon. The tree glows like       a holy pyre,                 a fluttering liturgical … Continue reading →

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“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
Posted on March 2, 2024 by Brianna Deutsch (Blog Writer, SevenPonds)

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
Posted on February 3, 2024 by Caitlin Manner (Blog Writer) SevenPonds

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
Posted on January 12, 2024 by Rachel Jones (Blog Writer, SevenPonds)

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
Posted on November 26, 2023 by Erin Fleming (Blog Writer, SevenPonds)

“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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