Near the end, Carter began to think that mirrors were
unreliable. When he walked past his reflection in
the shopping mall, he saw a coyote by his side. He
looked down, quickly. No coyote. In the morning,
above the bathroom sink, he saw chokecherries in
bloom behind him, so he turned around. Sheetrock. In
the shiny paint of a new car—he saw himself—a crow
on his shoulder.
After checking in to the local hospice, a nurse made
sure that he felt comfortable. She asked, “Can I get you
anything?” He said, “I would like a mirror. Hand-held
mirror. Please.”
Chad Hanson serves as Chairman of the Department of Sociology & Social Work at Casper College. He is the author of Swimming with Trout (University of New Mexico Press, 2007), Trout Streams of the Heart (Truman State University Press, 2013), and Patches of Light: Prose Poems (Red Dragonfly Press, 2014). His recent awards include the Meadowhawk Prize and a Creative Writing Fellowship from the Wyoming Arts Council. For more information, visit: www.chadhanson.org.
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