Within the Words | Nancy Schatz Alton

For a few months now, I often hit play on a specific Taylor Swift song as I drive away from my house to run any number of errands. (Yes, I listen to Taylor Swift, converted by my 11-year-old girl, and I must say the 11-year-old girl that is still within me loves her lyrics.) The [...]

I thought the well was dry the eyes still swollen from yesterday’s grief how could there be any salt left to mix with these tears that can’t stop flooding my eyes?   How come even if I already knew the words that were about to fall off the speech therapist’s tongue did I react with [...]

Starlight moonlight sunlight all the light that fills me centers me runs me until I am running to stand still my still center moving until my body sings until my body collapses its worry into moving feet gliding over city sidewalks pounding out a rhythm a traction to my life a reason for being to [...]

Not so long ago I worried Annie would never, ever love to read the way I love to read. I have adored reading books for as long as I can remember. My absolute adoration of books fed my desire to be a writer. Although sometimes I ponder what my life would have been like if [...]

Memory   I learned long ago there are 50 words for all the rain that falls in Seattle.   I didn’t know until yesterday there are 56 types of memory.   The human brain they are mapping it. There may be more Than 56 types of memory.   This is why Sean from the third [...]

“Things don’t go away. They become you. There is no end, but addition.” -T.S. Elliot What does it mean to have a child with learning disabilities come early September? I can’t speak for anyone but myself, but as I slowly wade into a new school year, this is what it means for me: Your child’s [...]

Summer is winding down, both fast and oh so slowly. What will I recall from these eleven weeks? Can I make poetry out of school vacation? The neighbor beats out a rhythm on his drums, a helicopter just stopped flying in place on Phinney Ridge, and a car just drove by and gave two long [...]

It seems the world never stops gathering speed; that the winds are always howling outside our doors. Yes, there are lovely breaks. Sun on my back as I pick raspberries while I let the whining girl just be whatever she wants to be while lying nearby me. Being lost within the novel Looking for Alaska [...]

It’s weird being on the top of the hill after staring at the summit for so, so long. No, I’m not out in the wilderness writing this post. I’m sitting in my office and I’m pretty much unable to move through the rest of my day until I write about this. This is kindergarten graduation [...]

“Remember your deepest name.” –Naomi Shihab Nye From a student of Buddhism I learn about the secret word. His teacher gave him a word in a language he doesn’t know that he uses while meditating. “What is your secret word?” I ask. “I can’t tell you,” he answers. “But what does your word mean? Do [...]