Yesterday was hard. I keep thinking I’ve grieved the losses of right now enough. That my night wakings and nightmares will cease. But yesterday I woke up from a nightmare of watching a secret Baccalaureate mass happening, seeing the graduates walk down the center aisle with glee. And we weren’t invited even though the graduates […]
Category: Gratitude
Sunlight Arrives
The rays of sunlight hit the left side of my face. I know what day it is because I get to help my daughter with her schoolwork. I’m unfolding into quarantine like everyone else. With tears. Gratitude. Anger. Scrolling on social media too much and then forgiving myself. Because if I can’t be kind to […]
The Heart Doesn’t Care About What The Head Knows
The Heart Doesn’t Care About What The Head Knows My body is making a new shape although I carry the past with me. I morph toward what’s next. I — oh — what is that shape? I move my whole body down. I sit my butt between my hips without touching the ground. I perch […]
Orange
Orange by Nancy Schatz Alton “I am lonely for myself.” -Crysta Casey All along I was not alone—I was with myself walking — making conversation — waiting for someone to fill me up yet here I was: orange center right in my belly red heart, green chest, blue throat, an indigo cloud that took […]
Seasons of Love
Years after you are done with me I learn everyone is done with each other In due time I can’t start a poem with the conclusion I mean it’s only Monday and we have an entire week to live through Comings and goings, endings that aren’t endings Because we find a new breath that will […]
The Moon Is Mine
I’m waiting for the carpet installer to arrive. I’m thinking about how fall smells: sweet. How fall feels: a heavy, muggy warmth that heats up my skin while the cool breeze cools me down. Often the sky is an amazing blue. This last week, the moon has been starting her cycle as a sliver that […]
What’s Your Story?
I’m sick of my stories. I’m a storyteller. I love telling stories. I’m stuck. Yet I’m not stuck. Because I’m at a place where I often think before I speak. What story do I want to tell? What’s my aim? Who do I want to be? I want to be positive, full of light while […]
The Summer Of
It’s the summer of sesame seeds, the summer of the smaller fridge, of fruit next to veggies, of adventure next to quiet, of the new job and heartache, of letting go because holding tight isn’t even an option. It’s the summer of the old friend who says he’s glad life is going well. Life is […]
The Last Day of July
Love is what I come back to every day In the moments of hardening I catch myself Think “love…can you get to love?” The world is windy I have tasks I can’t get to Within my reach is love The moment I ran up the hill & my friend’s son ran past me Young legs […]
After “On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous*”
We are collections of stories—yearning Yearning, a dog curled next to us We are full, the tops of our heads aglow with stories We are stories How we tell them matters I can tell them so many ways I can paint myself tall: Survivor I can paint myself innocent & scarred I am a runner […]