Judith Fox was a freelance writer for national magazines, but started studying and writing poetry seriously when the spare text she wrote for her award-winning photography book, “I Still Do: Loving and Living with Alzheimer’s,” rekindled her life-long love of poetry. She’s a finalist for the 2025 Bellevue Literary Review “John & Eileen Allman’s Poetry Prize,” the 2024 Bellevue Literary Review “John & Eileen Allman’s Poetry Prize” and the Bellevue Literary Review’s “Spring 2022 Poetry Prize.” Her chapbook, “Between Verse and Chorus” is a finalist for the 2025 Nine Syllables Press Chapbook Contest. Two of her poems are semifinalists in the “2024 Crab Creek Review Poetry Prize.” Her poems also appear in Rattle, Poet Lore, Jabberwock Review, The Madison Review, Notre Dame Review, The Citron Review, Sugar House, Rappahannock Review and elsewhere.
Watch Judith live in Rattlecast March 2 at 8pm ET / 5pm PT. View on YouTube
How it Happened
I thought I’d be at his side when he died.
Didn’t think I’d find his body,
relied on the clinician
who said his cancer will take time
to spread. But death struck my husband
with a lizard-quick tongue.
Snatched him as he was reading,
a torn theater stub tucked between pages
marking his place.
I was washing dishes a room away—a thin wall
apart—belting out songs
I’ll never sing again. Believing we had months,
thinking there was time enough
to dry a second cup.
Featured Poems
click each poem to enlarge
Lightning Strike
Poet Lore, Vol. 119
Cypresses
Jabberwock Review, Issue 45.2
When
BLR, Issue 42
Finalist for Spring 2022 poetry prize
I’d like to bend and tuck time
Crab Creek Review, 2024 Vol. 2
Semifinalist 2024 poetry prize
Almost Armored
Crab Creek Review, 2024 Vol. 2
Semifinalist 2024 poetry prize
Meyer Lemons
Rappahannock Review, Issue 11.2
Changing Gears
Madison Review, Vol. 52 No. 1
Shoes Painted by Van Gogh in 1888
Notre Dame Review, No. 55
The Gift
Citron Review, Fall 2022
When I Write About Us
Cider Press Review, Vol. 25.1
- Madison Review – Volume 52 No. 1 – Changing Gears – https://issuu.com/themadisonreview/docs/the_madison_review_spring_24_online_/68
- Rappahannock Review – Issue 11.2 – Meyer Lemons – https://rappahannockreview.com/issue-11-2/contents/poetry/judith-fox/
- Rattle – Issue #83 – How it Happened – https://www.rattle.com/how-it-happened-by-judith-fox/
- Cider Press Review – Vol 25.1 – When I Write About Us – https://ciderpressreview.com/cpr-volume-25-1/when-i-write-about-us/
- Calyx – Vol 34:2 – Dementia – https://www.calyxpress.org/shop/34-2/ (the poem is not printed online)
- BLR – Issue 42 – When – https://blreview.org/table-of-contents/issue-42 – Finalist for Spring 2022 poetry prize
- Sugar House Review – Issue 25 – Alzheimer’s Didn’t – https://www.sugarhousereview.com/copy-of-current-issue-sneak-peek-2#comp-lj0qclam1
- Notre Dame Review – Number 55 – Shoes Painted by Van Gogh in 1888 –https://ndreview.nd.edu/assets/556417/final_press_proof_ndr_55.pdf
- Citron Review – Fall 2022 – The Gift – https://citronreview.com/2022/09/23/the-gift/