Writing & Wardrobing

She gathered clothes that did not “fit,” hanging them on one side of my closet.

I took to a bottle of wine.

I feel this is where writing and wardrobing clearly intersect.

What I Know

Lately, I’m barely writing. The state of the world paralyzes my art. Anything I wish to say, to speak towards, or on behalf of, feels too small, too uninformed. I seek mostly comfort and, what I know for certain is that because I’m able to find and seek comfort, I’m one of the few, the privileged.

Bookmarks – Empowering and Essential Tools

The other day, in a workshop with Sarabande Books, someone shared the story of a librarian discovering a taco in the center of a book.

A taco.

Squished in the pages.

A taco.

How Remodeling My Kitchen Helped Me Revise My Full-Length Poetry Collection

This type of restructuring transferred to my writing in, well, structure, especially helpful with poetry. Poetry is both a visual and a literary art. The shape and structure and form inform the work as much as word choice and language.

The Birth of an Essay

Power surged into me, something electrical, and I realized I was given a piece of me back, the piece taken from me over and over in my youth. The piece used to control me, overpower me, keep me in my place. The piece that should have belonged to me and only me all along, that should have been guarded, protected, like the world’s greatest diamond. The piece diminished to the point I never thought about it, didn’t look at it, never talked about it. The piece I felt ashamed of, the one I blamed myself for all that went wrong. The piece that guided my babies into this world and helped push them forth into their first breath.

Me. No More.

Me. Me. December 2008. Me. One month prior to downloading my youngest. Me. One year prior to fleeing my home, three sons in tow, one duffel stuffed with medical supplies and a handful of diapers. Me. Looking un-terrified, flexing, posing. Me. Living in duplicity. This image is not about body-beauty or suface-pretty. This was anContinue reading “Me. No More.”

Writing “Me”

I found, through the use of third-person, I could write the hard stuff, the stuff that damaged me, that changed me, that shamed me. I could write as if I were writing about somebody else.