What I’ve been up to since graduation is making a life. By Nancy Schatz Alton I want so much more than that: For the crowd to cheer when I wander up to the microphone. To have learned how to wow the crowd with my words and intonation. To not care so much that I make […]
Category: Gratitude
Seeing
Marge Piercy Plants a Phrase “Some collisions bring luck.” -MP I am the highway at dusk, pink light, Mt. Rainier marks my horizon. I am you, the one that curls into me on the couch, 16 and awake, you color the atoms of this room with everything you see. I am here, looking at trees […]
Difficult And Lovely
It’s OK that things are difficult. It’s OK that it’s dark outside when you wake. It’s OK that another summer has passed, and your babies are young adults. It’s OK that the face in the mirror has sun spots that darken with the sunlight of summer. It’s OK that things are difficult. That human growth […]
Grey August
The birds shake the tree outside the window. The house fan clicks on and off. We keep the windows shut to keep the smoke out. The day churns as the grey sticks as I grab onto the good stuff. I want so much art out of the every day. I want the small moments of […]
Not Sleeping
The endings pile up and I lay awake at night and think about faith. Not faith in a specific God, but faith that all will be well enough. That I will let go of the outcomes for my kids and they will fly well enough, fly away from me. My oldest stretches and leans away […]
Now
Now By Nancy Schatz Alton I’m on the edge of something. Its curves lead to my flaws, the messes I’ve made, the ruptures followed by repair. I’m dancing to Prince. My youngest returns all notes with her perfect pitch We’re weaving a story out of song. One of my oldest friends hands […]
This Is What You Came For
This Is What You Came For For the call from the accident claim office. To repeat the accident scene. Again. When you don’t want to talk about it anymore because you know the acidic bile in your stomach will churn and rise again. This is What You Came For In Capital Letters. in lowercase letters, […]
Joy
I’ve surrounded myself with pictures of joy. As I sit at my desk, within my line of vision are pictures of people I love smiling with so much joy. My mom, my dad, my husband, myself, my girls. My mom in her 20s, hands on her hips, looking straight at me in the same manner […]
Willipa Bay
Every time I land on the Washington coast, there I am: young, seeing the Pacific for the first time. The second time. The third. Every time. How I used to need the Harvard T-shirt bought at a garage sale. How I’ve always had a book with me. Reading: trying to find the answers. Answers. Whatever […]
God: What a Popular Topic
So much of what I read crosses paths with God. The God of my childhood. The God of my children’s Catholic school educations. The God that can put up barriers as soon as his or her or their name is spoken. But still I seek out what I am reading. Because I tell you I […]