The Near Death Effect
by Carol Taylor
[Editor’s Note: This piece is part of the “Topical” series, with each piece solely submitted to and chosen by the Final Reader Pietra Dunmore.]
My two year old tumbled into the water
I reached out and grabbed his tiny fingers.
Cool water and a big grin
he churned the wavelets toward me
Let me go, let me go mummy I can do.
I swim, I swim!
Mary on my left asked me a question as my child pulled his fingers away.
Yes I said, I’m going.
I turned back and saw his little body floating face down
flying toward the underside of a tipped raft
wading through wet cement I reached his foot
and lifted him to my eyes and heart
As an artist I’ve always had to write for catalogs and statements, but as a poet and writer I am a very old “newbie”. My high school English teacher, poet Kay Smith was very encouraging. I was awarded a prize in grade 11 for a narrative poem. But then, Art was my love and I never felt smart enough to really “write.” So years pass, I am still a visual artist and potter and now a “writer” with a few projects on the go. My book Capturing Crime (30 years of court sketches), published by New World Publishing out of Dartmouth, NS, was nominated for an Atlantic Book Award 2021. My art work is in the National Art Bank (works on paper), NB Art Bank, McCain Collection, Saint John City Hall and NB Library collections among others. I have created four clay murals, all are installed in NB schools plus Figurehead installed over the Germain St. entrance to the Saint John City Market.
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What surprising, fascinating stuff can you tell us about the origin, drafting, and/or final version of “The Near Death Effect”? Nightmares of this incident have haunted me off and on for years. I have tried writing what happened, but it either seemed contrite or maudlin, so I gave up and figured that at some point it would come together cleanly. It did. The child is now a 45 year old gentle, tall, strong man who seems to have no ill effect. However, he doesn’t swim much!
Check out the write-up of the journal in The Writer.
Matter Press recently released titles from Meg Boscov, Abby Frucht, Robert McBrearty, Tori Bond, Kathy Fish, and Christopher Allen. Click here.
Matter Press is now offering private flash fiction workshops and critiques of flash fiction collections here.
Submissions
Poetry, creative nonfiction, and fiction/prose poetry submissions are now closed. The reading period for standard submissions opens again September 15, 2025. Submit here.
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