Literary Orphans

Alien / Explaining Death / Meditation
by Jolanta Davis

xSagi19

ALIEN
I have blue eyes and blond hair

You might say I’m a rather typical Caucasian

But the truth is

 

I’m an alien

 

The government says so

 

I’m an alien

 

By definition, I am:

– belonging to another country or people

– strange, not natural

– opposed or repugnant

– an outsider

 

And just to make sure I always remember that

 

I do not belong here

 

They gave me a small, laminated card

With big, bold “RESIDENT ALIEN” stretching across

 

I may

reside here

 

but I am

 

an alien

 

O Typekey Divider

 

EXPLAINING DEATH

“I don’t want you to die, mama!”

 

I knew that was coming

 

Our very old cat had died and she’s trying to understand

 

Death

 

“Will you die too, mama?”

 

How in the world do I respond to that?

 

I’ll always live

on

in you

 

I gave you 50 percent of your genes

 

I gave you those dimples

those thin lips

and that rounded face

 

I’ll live

on

in your children if you have any

 

But other than that…

 

I know I will die

 

maybe fifty years from now

or maybe

 

tomorrow

 

I can’t tell you that though

 

instead I just smile and say

 

“Don’t worry honey. I’ll probably live to be very, very old, like two of your great-grandmothers who lived to be more than 90. And that’s a looong time from now. Would you like to have some ice cream?”

 

O Typekey Divider

MEDITATION

 

Take a deep breath in

Then let it all out

 

A hundred people in the room

attempt to concentrate

 

on breathing

 

for the whole ten minutes!

 

Inhale

Exhale

 

My body seems to sway slightly left and right

It’s actually somewhat calming

 

Inhale

Exhale

 

Maybe there’s something to it

I should try it again sometime

 

Inhale

Exhale

 

Shit! I forgot to pick up the meds!

 

Inhale

Exhale

 

I wonder what the girl on my left is thinking about?

 

How many minutes has it been already?

 

Inhale

Exhale

 

Are all of us keeping our eyes closed

and he’s just watching us

with a smirk?

 

Dinggggggg

 

A chime

lets us know we can open our eyes now

 

Time

to get to more serious business

 

After all,

can’t we leave the breathing to our body?

 

It’s managed it just fine until now

 

And our conscious selves

need

to focus

on more serious matters

 

like paying the bills,

and buying bread for tomorrow

 

Meditation….

 

Just a bunch of baloney!

 

O Typekey Divider

Jolanta M. Davis always hesitates what to say when asked “Where are you from?” while traveling, because if she answers “Massachusetts,” assuming that people just want to know where she currently lives, then she sometimes hears “Is that where you grew up? You sound slightly foreign.” That’s why she has learned to say “Grew up in Warsaw, Poland, currently living in a small town in Massachusetts.” And despite what you may think, she actually likes meditating, if she can find time for it.

eyeball

O Typekey Divider

–Art by Sagi Kortler

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