This selection, chosen by guest editor Kirsten Kowalewski, is from Something Kindred by Nicole Tallman (Southern Collective Experience 2022).
On The Last Moments Leading Up To Your Death
(excerpt)
It’s the only time I see Dad cry in 40 years. He says you’ll be gone in three days. I ask why he didn’t tell me sooner. He says he didn’t know it would happen so fast. There were signs we didn’t see, but you had said you’d let me know when to come home. You did, and I don’t blame you. You couldn’t know what you didn’t want to know. You just kept pretending, even from the Hospice bed at home. How could I be surprised that you would pretend that everything was fine? Your entire life was pretending, making everyone believe that everything was fine.
Nicole Tallman is the author of three collections: Something Kindred, Poems for the People, and FERSACE. She serves as Miami’s official Poetry Ambassador, Editor of Redacted Books, and Poetry Editor for South Florida Poetry Journal and The Blue Mountain Review. Find her on social media @natallman and at nicoletallman.com. 
Kirsten Kowalewski is the editor for online horror fiction review resource Monster Librarian. She has an MLS and a specialist certificate in school library media from Indiana University, has worked as a children’s librarian and elementary school media specialist, and is a lifelong reader.
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