Toward Relief in Haiti

If you care to give or to give more...

Support Doctors Without Borders in Haiti


Or donate to any of these other worthy organizations that are hard at work: ...more

Table in the Clearing

Gena Corea

The convicts and I, a volunteer, sit in a circle in the prison. We do this every Thanksgiving. Eyes closed, we imagine sitting around a table in a clearing surrounded by a woods in which the parts of ourselves we have exiled live a furtive life.

We sense inside for any exile who might feel safe enough with us now to step out of the woods and join us at the feast. ...more

Mt. Auburn

Dianna Calareso

I’d rather not write about you, because writing about you means you’re somewhere else. I’d rather not write in the second person, as if the ‘you' (you) were right here instead of at Mt. Auburn Hospital in your pajamas. ...more

The Soup Kitchen

Bruce Nickerson

I walked into the small, overheated, stuffy office for our weekly staff meeting. Andrea, the rector, was there, her gangly body looking uncomfortable on the wooden office chair, her pinched sour face more unpleasant than usual, and her short mousy hair typically unkempt. The light from the window behind her dazzled my eyes, making it hard to look her in the face. On her left sat Frank, the assistant rector, with his cherubic, round, smiling face. On his right, behind a computer screen, sat the awkwardly pregnant parish administrator Nicole. ...more

After Losing Rosie

Anonymous

Went several days last week without tears, then came upon Rosie’s straw hat hanging by the front door. What is it about hats?? Went a couple of days more and came upon a pair of socks she’d worn while in Mexico and rubbed them on my cheek. I light a candle for her at night—I forget sometimes and feel guilty. I feel ok sometimes and feel guilty about that. I know Rosie would think me foolish. ...more

Joey's Story

Laurel Chiten

Laurel and Joey

If anyone wondered whether animals grieve… they do.

I am from Boston. I didn’t think I could survive one more New England winter, so five years ago I put my dog in the back seat of my car and drove south. ...more

Letter to My Momma

Michael Harrison

Momma, if we talked about such things
I would tell you,
I met a girl
I think I love her
like I think I love you…
or as much as you would let me. ...more

The Tombstone

Nathaniel Warren-White

It was August 2009 when my father and “the kids”—my two sisters, my brother, and I—were sitting around at Mum’s bedside on the 19th floor of Mass General Hospital, in the thoracic ward, watching her closely and awaiting the latest word from her surgical and oncological team. On September 23, in the wee hours of the morning, she died.

The last words I remember her speaking were, “We’re off and away!”… And so we were! A year later, aboard our home away from home for the past three years, ...more