Keitha Keyes

In Care

When I arrive at the nursing home Mum is asleep in her chair. I tap gently on her hand and she wakes up. A rare smile lights up her face as she says, “Hello, dear.” 

Then she looks around the room. “Oh, I’m still here. I hate it here. Take me home.”

sentenced to
solitary confinement
for the term
of her natural life …
no hope for parole

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About the Author

Keitha Keyes lives in Sydney, surrounded by antique irons and ship models. She enjoys writing tanka, haiku, senryu, cherita, and related genres. Her work is published in many journals and anthologies in Australia and overseas.

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