My Mama Says...

by

Rie Sheridan Rose

My Ma says Pa has gone to war...

He kissed her as he closed the door.

I saw the soldiers marching by,

Marching off to fight and die...

My brother John went off last week

Ma cried so hard, she couldn't speak.

I'm all that's left now here at home,

To tend the fields and till the loam.

My Uncle Ted lives up in Maine

Ma says we won't see him again.

I don't know why we have to fight...

But Ma is crying every night.

And now I have to be the man,

So I'll pretend as best I can

That I ain't scared by blood and guns

And mothers burying their sons.

Rie Sheridan Rose multitasks. Her short stories appear in numerous anthologies, including On Fire, Hides the Dark Tower,  and Killing It Softly Vol. 1 and 2. She has authored ten novels, six poetry chapbooks, and lyrics for dozens of songs. More info on www.riewriter.com. She tweets as @RieSheridanRose.

Another Story

by
Veronica Haunani Fitzhugh

Electrifying bullets fly–fatal and fast.
A veiled woman falls.
Footsteps do not slow
even as the baby squirms in her arms
trying to breathe free from her
tightening, dying clutches.

They both lie in the mid-morning heat.
Overturned carts and abandoned bicycles
litter the lifeless street.

The square is silent and smells of a red brown
trickle rust across the ground.

Her name meant Grace.
His name was Noah.

They fly to the pearly gates only to find further cages.

Veronica Haunani Fitzhugh earned her BA in English Literature from the University of Virginia but is more proud of the friendships she earned through her social justice work in Charlottesville, Virginia.  She has been in several anthologies online and in print.  Her main blog is Charlottesville Winter at cvillewinter.wordpress.org.