Eli Daniel Ehrenpreis

My father said to my mother “We are moving to Nebraska.”

She answered no, but we moved to Nebraska anyway!

The earth must be tilting.

Do you think it is colder in South Dakota?

I like to feel the breeze

while looking out at the Plains.

I like how the wind blows across the grass.

Eli Daniel Ehrenpreis, M.D., has published peer-reviewed articles in medical journals and has written medical books. A few years ago, he began creating stories and poetry that reflect his personal and professional experiences.

By John C. Marecki

Today was the first time that I really saw my father as old.

            Never young, never gray, to me he was just “Dad”.

Swaying a bit too much on standing, grabbing arms to steady,

                        Holding his bride’s hand for their love enduring,

They peacefully, quietly trundle away.

            My, how the sunset makes the day complete!

John Marecki is an Instructor in the Department of Biochemistry at UAMS. He copes with the changing seasons in life by writing.

By Humaira Khan

Part 1: Beneath the Surface

She watched her muscles twitch, small flickers disturbing the skin surface like ripples on water. 

Random, unprovoked, without beauty. 

Was she just tired? But then why would they affect first her left arm, then her left leg, then her right one, too, like there was order to the destruction, leaving her limbs wasted, weak, crippled? 

Part 2: White Lies: “We need more workup…”

The stark sanitized smell of the hospital and his white coat match the lies he tells her. 

But he definitely knows. 

When he taps her wasted leg, flicks her bent finger, and they both respond briskly, eager to react, he knows they shouldn’t have, and she sees the truth in an instant in his eyes.

Part 3: Last Breath

Two years later, her limbs no longer move, not much anyway. They are wasted but stiff, contracted. 

Breaths have become shallow, effortful. 

She sheds tears, then laughs, not in response to anything, not due to sadness, just does, inappropriately. 

The machine breathes for her but she’s done asking for help. She longs to be free. 

Humaira Khan, M.D., is a neurologist, mother, nature-lover, and amateur photographer with a life-long passion for the written word. She has a Diploma in Freelance and Feature Writing from the London School of Journalism and her work has been published in Intima as well as in lifestyle and consumer magazines, both online and in print.