Spy Reprints “Old Woman Walking” by Katherine J. Williams
Author's Note: "Keenly aware of the transient beauty along the dirt roads in County Claire, Ireland, I began this poem as a way to notice, savor, and hold these precious images close. But I ask: Am I ... [Continue Story] … [More...]
Spy Reprints “Desideratum: Something Desired as Essential” by Caroline Bock
Author's Note: "In his late thirties, my youngest brother, a big guy who owned a bar in a southern college town, decided to study nursing. Eventually, he became a nurse practitioner in Cleveland, Ohio. He loved the work, especially with veterans and seniors. We were both crazy-busy with our careers and families and only checked in with one another … [More...]
Spy Reprints “Devotion, A Ghost Story” by Laura J. Oliver
Author's Note: "We can't see dark energy or dark matter. We can't see infrared, or ultraviolet light, yet we investigated and discovered they are real. What else exists beyond the limitations of our 5 ... [Continue Story] … [More...]
Spy Reprints “Orange” by Andie Davis
Author's Note: "I spent the first six months of the pandemic with my parents, helping to care for my dementia-afflicted mother. In therapy they encourage you to personify your anxiety, and so I came to see death as an obnoxious pest with whom I squabble constantly, while holding fast to love and beauty. Writing this story was therapeutic for me - … [More...]
Spy Reprints “The Lesser Snow Goose” by Kelly R. Samuels
Author's Note: "The Lesser Snow Goose was written shortly before my mother died. She is the 'you' in the poem-very ill, sitting beside me in the waiting area before a doctor's visit. It felt fitting ... [Continue Story] … [More...]
Spy Reprints “At the Edge” by Richard Tillinghast
Author's Note: "The history of the human race sadly seems also to be the history of warfare. In this poem I imagine what it would be like to be living on the edge of a war zone as fighting starts to break out, as is happening right now in Ukraine. The character in my poem is someone who lives, as I do, a secluded life in the country. He is perhaps … [More...]
Spy Reprints ” Things My Father Told Me” by E. Ethelbert Miller
Author's Note: "I was one of the first students to graduate from Howard University with an undergraduate degree in African American Studies. I learned a lot about the history of the Black family from reading books and attending conferences. This experience however didn't explain the quiet dignity of my father. His love for his family was not an … [More...]
Spy Reprints “In the Distance” by Diane Thiel
Author's Note: "'In the Distance' speaks to the idea that we might travel in order to get distance from something, perhaps a past in need of healing, but that the story will follow close behind. The unnamed "unrelenting story" in the poem might pursue us full circle, even circumnavigate the globe. But on a hopeful note, the expansive nature of … [More...]
Spy Reprints “Morning Ritual” by Alfred Fournier
Author's Note: "When a childhood friend told me about his devastating work injury, my mind flashed back to a time when we were sure we were immortal and invulnerable. I wrote this piece as a tribute to our friendship in those younger years, and out of a desire to understand what drove our acts of daring." ... [Continue Story] … [More...]
Spy Reprints”The Wicked Witch of the West” by Jona Colson
Author's Note: "The Wizard of Oz was probably one of the first movies I ever watched, and I loved the Wicked Witch. Often, villains are my favorite part of narratives, and she terrified me-her laugh, ... [Continue Story] … [More...]
