Last Things
Joyce Carol Oates
Combing my hair, a sudden snarl
in the pink teeth.
How silent, death entering.
But I mean of course only the thought.
The thought of death.
The thought of Death.
I mean of course only the thought,
entering.
About Joyce Carol Oates
Joyce Carol Oates’s numerous awards include a winner of the National Book Award, the Los Angeles Times Book Prize, and PEN/Malamud Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Short Story. Her short stories have received more than two dozen O. Henry Awards and appeared in as many volumes in the Best American series. After six previous nominations, her short story “Smother,” originally published in VQR’s Fall 2005 issue, received the National Magazine Award for Fiction. It will also appear in the 2006 editions of Best American Mystery Stories and Best American Magazine Writing.
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