Life’s Anvil
I read my sister’s email of my father refusing the feeding tube and of the brutal aspect of his amputated foot that is not healing, while checking for nail salons near my daughter’s home where we will get pedicures this coming Saturday at a meeting of the future mother-in-law.
Life’s ironic anvil is cool and hard no matter how red the rod glows.
Mary Bargteil, adjunct Associate Professor with UMGC, is published in short story, novella, and poetry. Graduated summa cum laude with a M.F.A. in Creative Writing and Publication Arts, her poetry has appeared in Gargoyle, The Light Ekphrastic, Scribble, Welter, Brown Bag Literary Magazine, Scorched Earth, and Octopus Dreams. She also taught creative writing and memoir courses at Anne Arundel Community College and at private institutions for over a decade.