A Tidings of Magpies

by Grace Paley On certain days I am not in love and my heart turns over crowding the lungs for air driving blood in and out of the skull improving my mind working muscles to the bone dashing resonance out of a roaring sea at my nerve endings Not much is needed air good sense power a noisy taking in and a loud giving back Then my heart like any properly turned motor takes off in sparks dragging all that machinery through the blazing day like grass which our lord knows I am

Exegesis by Paul Hostovsky We couldn't have been more than twelve or thirteen, sitting on that green bench in the late sixties or early seventies, me and Michael Zucker who was much more savvy and world-weary than I, when I asked him to please explain the meaning of the words to a song by Carly Simon, who was simply gorgeous—that much was plain—after we'd resolved the essential question of whether or not she was wearing a bra in that photo of her with the blue top and thick lips on her album cover. "I don't get it," I said. "'You're so vain. You probably think this song is about you.' But the song IS about him, isn't it?" I asked Zucker, holding my palm up in the air like one who is trying to ascertain the truth about whether or not it has started to rain. Zucker looked away then, gingerly fingering the green slats, as though he were reading the carved names of the lovers and obscenities tact...

We went to a wedding on New Year's Eve...the eldest son of my best friend from high school. My friend who recently died. The wedding was held in the same church as her funeral four months ago. Seems like yesterday. The wedding was beautiful, and joyful, perhaps more so because of the sorrow that each one of us felt at our loss of her. It's no secret that not all marriages end happily ever after and the priest talked about the courage that this couple had in making a commitment of marriage and in having hope for their future. He is correct. It does take courage and, of course, his words were meant to do more than seal the deal for this young couple. The priest was aware of all the broken hearts in that church on this cold winter evening and of the power of love to heal them. To believe that is a path of the brave. A Wedding Poem by Thomas R. Smith   Bright faces surround the woman in white, the man in black, the sweetness of their att...