Cool water waving
Splashing against the canoe
The sun beating down
*
No phones, computers,
Just you and me in a boat,
Stuck with each other
*
Sandwiches, soda,
Our nourishment for the day
Eating nostalgia
*
Talking and rowing
Temporarily at peace
Alone, together
*
Sitting together
In the middle of the lake
Side by side, open
*
A wet, dirty rock
Playing therapist today,
Unseen confidante
*
Speaking secret thoughts
Kept from each other so long
No bars being held
*
No yelling, banging,
No hiding from the fighting,
Just the lake and us
*
Father and daughter
Raising the white flag of truce
For only one day
About the Creator
Stephanie Hoogstad
With a BA in English and MSc in Creative Writing, writing is my life. I have edited and ghost written for years with some published stories and poems of my own.
Learn more about me: thewritersscrapbin.com
Support my writing: Patreon
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The story invoked strong personal emotions
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Reaching Out
I promise her. I'd do anything for her. She's my mom. Even as Lanie and Deanna are flying home, Mom is scrappy fighting dying. She lays too still in that too-big bed with all the toasty white hospital blankets, in the south tower, at the broad end of a long slow-turning corner that delivers me again to her private room with the view she can't see through, with the beeping that tells us nothing new, and all these ice chips she can't swallow, and a flood of well-intentioned nurses who cannot do a damned thing all the same.
By Christy Munson5 days ago in Fiction
Comments (8)
Stephanie, this was so beautiful!! Well done! I love the overall feel of this piece!! Great work!!
Such a poignant moment recaptured, the idea of eating nostalgia is such a beautiful one 🤍 Funny the moments of calm we remember - beautiful!
This is gorgeous! "Sandwiches, soda, Our nourishment for the day Eating nostalgia" Love that stanza! And that ending was so impactful! Really well done
Ah, I can't see that white flag staying intact with my dad.
Awww, this was absolutely wonderful! Also, I feel like having a sandwich now, lol. Loved your poem!
awesome nostalgia
It is nice when something is so beautiful and peaceful that everything else is put on hold. This is lovely in so many ways
Depending upon the relative ages of father & daughter, he could be learning a lot, lol. (Our father always does when the eight of us kids get together with him. He just turned 90.)