Charles Hughes is the author of two poetry collections, The Evening Sky (forthcoming from Wiseblood Books in 2020) and Cave Art (Wiseblood Books 2014). His poems have appeared in the Alabama Literary Review, The Christian Century, the Iron Horse Literary Review, Literary Matters, Measure, the Saint Katherine Review, the Sewanee Theological Review, Think Journal, and elsewhere. He worked as a lawyer for thirty-three years before his retirement and lives with his wife in the Chicago area.
Behold, I make all things new. —Revelation 21:5 Already past the middle of July, The summer I left for college, said goodbye— For weeks, not months or years, eternity— To the girl I loved, still love, I’ll always love; All summer, Vietnam, the nightly news, Men…
(a fable for children and others) for Ellie “A king—long years ago, When nights were long and dark And forests thick and dangers oh! So dangerous—lost his spark, Lost his remarkable spark Of joy. A meadowlark . . .” Part One: In Search of Meadowlarks Catherine had a friend. Her friend was Emma May. They…
Tires on wet pavement whooshing, wavelike, by. Raindrops, in their staccato rhythm, tapping Blurred windows. Morning barely half awake. A recently arriving rainy day, When a small girl— Still, green-blue eyes and almost yellow hair, Warm in her raincoat, backpack on her back, Riding the bus to school—watches the rain, Watches black puddles, splashed by…
. . . for the World is both a Paradise and a Prison to different persons.—Thomas Traherne A blizzard more than fifty years ago. Wind-gusted snow took its sweet time to fall, Twenty-nine hours from start to stop. Snow shock. Cars sideways, stuck. People cut off from home, Stranded. Unhurryable shoveling. Troubles that…
