Katherine
Mahon
Holmes
writes

It is evening, the end of a long day moving my son into his new apartment. Returning the Uhaul truck, I turn right, up Cove Street. A woman is walking down the street. Her hair is light brown and long, to the bottom of her shoulder blades. A little frizzy in this 60-70 degree early June evening air, in Portland, Maine. There is a pleasant cool breeze that catches it. She pushes her grocery cart filled with what I imagine everything she owns, heading for Marginal Way, where th

I Will Follow You to Virgie, a beautiful song about a young man going back to his hometown for the funeral of his high school buddy's grandmother. A woman who was a supportive person in his younger life. “Yeah, I reckon we were heathens, but in her eyes we were saints.” Anyone who, when young, had an older person in their life, hold them in a higher light, deserved or not, understands the emotion of this song. I can come up with many adults from my childhood who were instrume

By Katherine Mahon From The Aputampkon Review, Vol 1 Voices from Downeast Maine & Coastal New Brunswick Canada 2006 pages 100-103 Revised, May 2023 Gram poured her coffee into her cup, every morning. Dropped in one spoonful of sugar and stirred. The spoon touching the edges as it circled around and around, stirring more than necessary, making a clinking sound that annoyed my mother. That sound irritated my mom every morning of her life since she could remember. My mom never

Healing from grief has many faces. Many of them are awkward. Traveling through uncharted waters with no script to follow. And oddly...

March 11, 2023 Route 9 is a long 2-hour stretch of road in Maine from Bangor to Calais. If you have driven this road, you have encountered these giant wind turbines. At first, they can be seen from a distance. But then, they disappear from view and reappear after a bend in the road and a climb up a hill. Boom. There it is. This humongous, man-made, moving majestic object. My immediate reaction is, “Wow!” Like a visual shot of exhilaration. It’s one of my favorite little surp

These days, life events can easily be described through a phrase from a children's book, as I am reading more of them lately to toddlers...

Three square pillows all bearing a distinct clean hem line, rest on the made bed. Two, charcoal gray. One, oatmeal. All the same...

I couldn’t NOT write about my time spent with my (shhhhhh favorite) niece, her significant other, and their newborn twin boys. I’ve been here a week and I’ve been too much in the moment, it’s only right now I am inspired to write. My heart is breaking just a little bit as I am smack in the middle of witnessing my niece in her own growth spurt. Last night was the twin's dad’s first overnight work day, leaving mom with the boys for 24+ hours. The not-so-new-now parents have bee

The sun is shining through large windows in a clubhouse gym, in a housing development where my niece and her significant other live. It...

I joined an online creative writing class a couple of months ago. When I’m in the class, I feel a childlike delight stretching across my...

December 17, 2022 Dear Jake, A theme started way back when your father and I were young enough that he could not pronounce my name...

Coincidence or not, I rummaged through older writing pieces and landed on this one, which I will share with you momentarily. It was...

It's October 2, 2022. Fall's here. It's a beauty this year. December, you will have been gone 3 years. If it were you, not me, living...

Today I got to teach Chloe where her heart resides. I know my days are numbered with her. I could get out a calendar and have a pretty good estimate of the Thursdays I have left with her. It’s in the ballpark of a year. When her mom will move to the Bangor area for school and better job opportunities and childcare. Closer to her sister and mother. But that would take away the delight in the mystery. I prefer it to be like savoring a candy bar by taking tiny bites with her and

Well hello there and thanks for joining me! You probably enjoy reading essays, like I do. Essays are like really good two-minute songs....