Category Archives: Uncategorized

Gifts by Theodora Goss Sometimes I consider the gifts I’ve been given: life, first of all, then health, which lets me stride through the world thoughtlessly — a little too much so. Talent, I think, but that’s for you to … Continue reading →

Foxes by Theodora Goss Deep in the ferns they are creeping, their sweeping tails setting swaying the ferns as they crawl, little red foxes, an army of redcoats, elegant-eared and cunningly small, like rubies half-hid by a billowing shawl. Deep … Continue reading →

The Certainty of Work by Theodora Goss That night I lay in bed, a compact bundle of nerve and muscle and bone, under the coverlet, wondering where my life was going and where it had gone. Feeling the darkness around … Continue reading →

The River’s Daughter by Theodora Goss She walks into the river with rocks in her pockets, and the water closes around her like the arms of a father saying hello, my lovely one, hello. How good to see you, who … Continue reading →

Ugly by Theodora Goss I think there should be two words that mean ugly, because there are two kinds of ugliness. The first kind is the ugliness of an ogre whose nose resembles a turnip, with three hairs on his … Continue reading →

Dirge for a Lady by Theodora Goss Lay her in lavender, all that is left of her; lavender preserves the lovely and the white. Sweet clove and cinnamon, like a fine pomander, lay her in these, the delicate, the slight. … Continue reading →

The Nightingale and the Rose by Theodora Goss Here is the story: There was a nightingale. She looked like nothing at all, a small brown bird perched in the rose bushes. You would scarcely have seen her unless you were … Continue reading →