Ninepatch OnLine Magazine

Love life till you can’t… And then love death.  Stargazer III (Apr.’19) explains his lines, “My poem- thought was inspired by a lengthy piece I read on Face-Book. In two parts, a Hospice nurse talked about two patient situations, one where the patient was on a ventilator, in extreme pain and restrained with no way to […]

Sit. Stay, Think as Prayer Going through on a rainy day,Drawers, stacks of boxes ofModel cars, cabinets full ofCanned goods,Shirts, coats on hangars,Photographs from years,Back, like turning back a clock,Though time in reality,Has in years moved upTo now— On a couch I sit,Space is open,My mind in river’sFlow—I am in a kind of mirage,A story […]

There once was a teacher Of a Sunday School Class Who shuddered when she saw The poverty of the mass. She dutifully prayed For their misguided souls Then she talked in sweet terms Of the mission fund goals. Then there were the members Of the Sunday School Class Who bargained with God To fight for […]

He was a solitary soul,Kept closeness far fromHis inner self where we allSeek connection,But then there are memoriesForgotten,The wash tub splash of childhoodIn summer;Walks in winter whenSnow covered sidewalks,And we wore rubber boots;In summer roller skates, playing marblesOr parcheesi—We both had a hard timeAt dinner whenHe refused Lima beans,And I, asparagus;We both felt a strapOn […]

Life is not cheap… Be careful how you spend it.             Simon Stargazer III (Mar.’19) shares his thoughts on the above lines, “Realizing that even though my goal is to surpass my grandmother’s age of 96 and sneak past 100, I’ve still got lots of stuff to do before then. […]

Aching but yesterday’s snow digging freed our cars. Tense- yesterday’s driving: just plowing thru ice under snow barely seeing out windshield frozen: freezing. Blasting icewinds on the melt, defrost full blast, wipers only shmear. Today: winter storm chaos, Watching Hall Street hill, Cars stuck or slide sideways Intersection: sliding, spinning collision. I pray for drivers: […]

Which is worst?Understanding my brother? Or the hospital protocols?Order for suicide precautionsBecause he said he wantedTo die—Huh?A student nurse sitterWhile I hit the ceiling—Why? The doctor is called,We have communion,Agreeing no more treatment— But here they come again For a CAT scan—What? Huh? We get that settled,No More Treatment! He calls out in pain, They have […]

Everyone has worth… The question is…  Do they flaunt it,  Or quietly use it  To improve the lives of others?  Simon Stargazer III (Feb. ‘19) adds, “When I wrote ‘…Do they flaunt it…’ I was thinking of self-aggrandizement which can be associated with perhaps feelings of indebtedness on the part of the receivers. (I think […]

On my way… Today, knowing what to expect, Yet not knowing – I have listened to doctors, Nurses, anesthesiologists, And physician’s Assistant – But my brother’s speech, Too garbled to understand, The dimensions of a tumor Are known but how could he Have known? As much as we know From charts, We don’t know much […]

Colors flown, out of our hands. Dogs with Sarah and I under blankets, Cassie’s bed – Cassie now cradled in God’s hammock hands, being gently ever so lifted across the map and placed with utmost cosmic care into warm safe cozy final bed, *flooding motion of cells and aura still calibrating from the rocketing liftoffs […]