Saying Goodbye
Part VI
Ordinary Days
written by: Doug Stanfield (Hemmingplay)
@hemmingplay
She had wanted to
sell the house.
She thought
he’d go first
leaving her alone
to deal with the
money pit.
Everything happens
on an ordinary day.
A plane full of
families falls out of
a clear blue sky.
A young mother dies in a
freak traffic accident
on a country road after
dropping her
daughter at school.
A diagnosis changes everything,
dropping without warning,
from a clear December sky.
The next morning he wakes before dawn,
listens to her breathing,
It all seems normal.
The sky’s still dark.
All the years of
ordinary days have come
to this.
What will it be like,
he wonders, to
walk through these rooms
when her voice has gone silent?
Re-publication as part of the series (originally published 3/29/18)
OCTOBER 2016 / JULY 2019 AUTHOR OF THE MONTH at Spillwords.com
“Hemmingplay,” is the pen name of Doug Stanfield, who grew up on a family farm in western Ohio, went with his parents for two years in Karachi, Pakistan, in high school and had lived, until recently, in Bellefonte, PA with his late wife, Wilda and their two sons, Ben and John. Doug was a writer, editor and director of internet communications at Penn State for 26 years. He has had a few disreputable occupations, including newspaper reporter and editor, and public relations flak, but is trying to make amends for his sins by writing poetry and fiction.
When his sons were safely off making their own mistakes, he turned on the computer one day, stared at the screen for what seemed a long time, and began to learn the craft anew at age 67.
Doug has published three books so far: "Mermaid Sisters: First Dive", a children's book on iTunes/iBook; "I Came From A Place of Fireflies" published as a paperback and Kindle on Amazon, and a new book of poetry, "Snowflakes & Ashes: Meditations on the Temporary”, available as both an ebook and as a paperback. (Gatekeeper Press) on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, iBooks, Ingram and Baker & Taylor, and a few others.)
When his sons were safely off making their own mistakes, he turned on the computer one day, stared at the screen for what seemed a long time, and began to learn the craft anew at age 67.
Doug has published three books so far: "Mermaid Sisters: First Dive", a children's book on iTunes/iBook; "I Came From A Place of Fireflies" published as a paperback and Kindle on Amazon, and a new book of poetry, "Snowflakes & Ashes: Meditations on the Temporary”, available as both an ebook and as a paperback. (Gatekeeper Press) on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, iBooks, Ingram and Baker & Taylor, and a few others.)
Latest posts by Doug Stanfield (Hemmingplay) (see all)
- Epilogue - May 2, 2020
- A Morning - April 10, 2020
- Giving Back, Reluctantly - March 20, 2020
