Heaven | Michael T. Dolan

The litterer

My daughter is a litterer. Coming home from work at night, or taking out the trash, or while picking up fallen branches in the yard, every so often I’ll discover a piece of bright construction paper perched in a bush or laying on the lawn. …

Harry

I am sitting, reading. My four-year-old son is likewise sitting, playing. He glances up and looks at the man on the cover, reflections of whose life are held within. “Why did Harry Kalas die, Dad?” he asks. I fumble over my reply, “Well, he was …

Heaven on earth

If there is ground in heaven, I believe it must be covered with a thick layer of fallen pine needles. If there is music in heaven, I believe it must be the wind brushing against the land as spirits travel through the sky. If there …

Flight to heaven

She died two years to the day after her husband. They spent their later years within earshot of the ocean, and called the beach their home. After the funeral, again two years to the day after her husband, family likewise gathered within earshot of the …

Sleeping moon

Looking skyward, the crescent moon stood out in the winter eve, its light reflecting off the snowy ground. Something seemed amiss, however. When one pictures the crescent moon, the image that inevitably comes to mind is a lunar sliver pointing left or right in the …