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The Giving Tree
October 22, 2026
Helen Grace Candies, where mom worked,
made hard sugar straws nobody wanted.
Nobody missed the two boxes she stashed
so her boys would have something for
the school’s Halloween fair. She was a kind
of genius, the kind they might welcome
or call witch, depending on the time, town,
or mood. Lemons were cheap, so she’d
bought three boxes. The day of the fair,
she made a big show of cutting each fruit,
letting the kids and parents choose which
color of striped candy straw they wanted.
She gave her sons credit for the idea of it,
for carrying a load of heavy citrus boxes
on two buses after work at the candy shop,
for not sniping, “What are we going to do
with these?” for not asking for more, for
(maybe) forgetting all she couldn’t give.
Editor: Michelle Newman
About the Poet
J.D. Isip is the winner of the 2026 Louise Bogan Award for his collection, What Wonder (Trio House Press, 2027), and he is the editor of the upcoming anthology, The American Pop Culture Almanac: Daily Readings of Poetry & Prose (Moon Tide Press, 2027). His full-length collections include Reluctant Prophets (Moon Tide Press, 2025), Kissing the Wound (Moon Tide Press, 2023), and Pocketing Feathers (Sadie Girl Press, 2015).
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