The Cemetery at Tuscarora, Nevadaby Robert N. Coats A weathered plank with wooden cross affixed:Sacred to the memoryof our daughter M.B. McNamaraAge 7 daysDied Dec. 27, 1893. Outside the barbed wire, grazing Herefordshuff and munch, gazingat tall brome growing between the graves. Enclosed by an ornate iron fence,a monument of white marble:L.J., wife of P.Continue reading “The Cemetery at Tuscarora, Nevada by Robert N. Coats”
Tag Archives: cemeteries
Paris Stories: One by Diana Rosen
Paris Stories: One by Diana Rosen On the lush green slope to the side of Cimetière du Père-Lachaise where the crumbling concrete tombstones of Molière, Colette, Hugo rest, I find myself seriously Lost, wave down a solitary figure to whom I plead, “Sortie, s’il vous plaît, sortie,” cobbled from the words for Please (a mustContinue reading “Paris Stories: One by Diana Rosen”
New Orleans by Anne Whitehouse
New Orleansby Anne Whitehouse In this city the Church had dominion over the dead,but the dead would not stay buried.They rose up out of the groundwhen the river overflowed and the ground turned to water.Fevers, vapors, and miasmas circulated,the air so humid it was another form of water.Pale, wide, and muddy, the river loomed,and theContinue reading “New Orleans by Anne Whitehouse”
Père Lachaise by Jennifer Lagier
Père Lachaiseby Jennifer Lagier Our guide, Jean-Jacques,tells us stories,reads inscriptionson mausoleums.Marks a map as Iexplore a city of deathwith expatriate friends.We pass grandiose memorials.Angels and antichrists decomposebeside housewives and saints.Fading lipstick kisses polka dotOscar Wilde’s neutered sphinx.According to rumor, a bureaucratanchors his paperwork withthe severed stone sex.Someone has stolen Jim Morrison’sbronze bust, a poppy and twistofContinue reading “Père Lachaise by Jennifer Lagier”
Recoleta by Lorraine Caputo
Recoletaby Lorraine Caputo In this gated city within the city narrow calles labyrinthineRest eternal souls of doctors & founders business moghuls politicians, presidents & heroes of forgotten wars(Their grumbling yet resounds about, around Evita’s tomb where fresh flowers are lain) Beneath their Gothic spires, domes beyond Doric columns fine sculpture Art Deco reliefsBehind façades of dimmed black granite of façades now crumbled revealing eroded brick eroded mortarBronze honor plaques deep-greened wrought-iron doors rusting & cobweb-woven panes shattered Stained glassContinue reading “Recoleta by Lorraine Caputo”
POETRY and PLACES 