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My Fatherโ€™s Living Will

Viva Hammer

It is a haze of fog and low cloud at dawn and the kookaburras are wild with ecstasy. The soft low click of the neighborsโ€™ gate breaks in among...

Together In Isolation

Viva Hammer

On the seventh day of my familyโ€™s isolation for COVID-19, I call a friend sitting shiva after the death of his father. The three mourners sit together, my friend...

Bless the Lord, O My Soul

Viva Hammer

It is early still, and dark. Next to me my sister sleeps, but I wake with the sound of my father preparing for work. He is soft, so as...

Sabbath Alone

Viva Hammer

The sun falls between the leaves outside the kitchen window as I prepare for my first Sabbath alone. Beginning on Thursday morning, Sabbath greetings have arrived, and they have...

Invisibly Naked

Viva Hammer

Will you uncover your hair?โ€ they ask when they hear Iโ€™m divorcing. I am taken aback each time; itโ€™s such a private matter. The morning after my wedding, I tied...