Sometimes it’s better to fall On the side of patience Sometimes it’s better to fall On the side of curiosity Sometimes it’s better to fall On the side of wonder Sometimes it better to fall On the side of pain You can learn from it You grow from it You become through it Sometimes it’s […]
Nothing to Give
She gives what lives in her He takes what he needs From the stores of her heart She always leaves a little for herself Parcels it out, best she can into Desert sands and an oasis Simply a mirage Some red stream, running from her heart He drinks from it Taking it all in Until […]
She isn’t Free
She lived in a closet. Protected from anyone who might take her to a work camp. They were quiet days alone with her journal. One day she wrote, “Thank goodness I’m free from the camps.” She was held underground. Protected from the ones who wanted her to work as a slave. They were terrifying days […]
Why I Keep My Nails Short
Once upon a time my nails were clean no dirt to remove from the porcelain edges beneath my nail beds then I dug down into the earth and pulled up worms and clumps of dirt, and everything sat between my pristine nail beds, my peachy fingers, with a depth that takes in dirt, mud, black […]
Risk To Growth Ratio
When you take a risk you want it to be calculated. We did that. We rode our bikes on the bike path, down to Boom Island, and found a quiet, sandy spot to swim in the river. It’s not easy times with the pandemic and the pools are closed. Beaches are closed too, but all […]
No Abyss Named Love
Falling into something is much easier than climbing out of something. So it’s funny to me we use the phrase ‘fell out of love’. Like you can simply fall out of a hole you free fell into. You can’t. You must climb, crawl, and search for foot holds to help you out of the depression […]
The Right Pillow
Wrapped in light sheets she held a pillow between her legs. She was comforted imagining him close to her. He wasn’t in the room. He wasn’t in the bed. He wasn’t anywhere. She believed her loneliness and his absence was her own doing. Patterns of unrest and sleepless nights visited her again. Ghosts of love’s […]
Sacred Space
Tears for generations of injusticeBuildings burningActs of ferocityWalking down Lake StreetGarbage bagGlovesMaskA broomI witness the devastationI pick up some trashSo much of it has been cleanedSwept upRespected by the larger communityThe corner of George Floyd’s murder is surrounded in flowersStations of food and water and provisions for those in need are available for distributionPeople take […]
My City Is Burning
**This is not a piece promoting violence** My city is burning. And I understand it. Faced with oppression and violence again and again, how can we expect to be heard through a peaceful protest? For so long, lack of civil rights, freedom, and the inability to live without fear has been the experience of People […]
Building Cairns
Smooth rocks with flat backs, stacked one on top of the other. I enjoy the simplicity of balancing the contrasting colors together to create a tower of evenness where the weight of one side matches the other so they can live in harmony, one on top of the other without toppling over. Sometimes when you […]