FEATURED WORKS FROM OUR 2024 LISTEN ANTHOLOGY

A COMING TOGETHER

Rose van son

almost 100 years

since you left 

a family divided

mourns your loss

as one would mourn

a death

a passing

you sleep in your sister’s house

a dove flown from her window

until her daughter is born

then a grandchild

passes your memory on

six siblings: three sisters, two brothers

an uneven number without you, your story

recounted, retold         an ‘O’ separates

the lips of those who would listen...

how you sailed into the New World—

cradling a young Mary, a young John

braving the naming rights of a disciple

left a family at home all at sea   

in the dark of an eclipse

Ellis Island welcomes you 

with name change

no one there remembers

your leaving

your arrival