Writing the Impossible Grief of Very Young Widowhood

 Kelsey Ronan on finding the right words:

In The Last Station, a dying Tolstoy upbraids his wife, “You don’t need a husband; you need a Greek chorus.” I pinned the joke in my mind, recited it to myself on the walk home from the movie theater for Bryan, my fiance. Coming in through the kitchen, I saw him asleep on the sofa in the next room—the top of his head over the cushion, one arm dangling. There was a silent moment before I noticed the skin, marbled white and blue. Then, as I stepped into the living room, the vomit caked in his nostrils, over his mouth and his unrising chest.

Read more: Literary Hub