I fell apart yesterday. Along with the body, this body, my body, pulling herself together, my heart cracked and crumpled. A break-up. My choice. My clarity for life moving forward. Clarity to know who and what I will allow access to me based on love, kindness, compassion. My choice—not rash nor emotional—but a series ofContinue reading “In Gathering Grapes and Grief”
Tag Archives: women
We Need More Kintsugi
I taught a kintsugi art class in 2024. It went less than well, mainly because I nearly caught a few participants’ eyelashes on fire. I’ll come back to my fire-hazard moment. Let me back up: I’m not a kintsugi expert and this was my first and only kintsugi workshop. For me, kintsugi began as aContinue reading “We Need More Kintsugi”
How to Shave a Zach
I shave my son, Zach. Let me back up. I’m a single mom with three sons. I’ve taught them all the things, like turning off toilet water in an emergency, the care and upkeep of wool sweaters, and how to pee standing up (which involved aiming for Fruit Loops). Of the three, Zach’s the oldest.Continue reading “How to Shave a Zach”
A Night Well Spent
Say I told you that I spent a good, no, a great, part of my life in numbness training. Men thought me emotionally stable because I wanted nothing, asked for nothing, accepted even less. Women thought me a threat because men thought me well. I was never well. Say I told you that in myContinue reading “A Night Well Spent”
Seeds
The small, slow steps work. Every time. This is true of difficult decisions. True of preparing a gorgeous meal. True of creating beautiful art. The fastest track might yield “results,” but rarely offers a deep sense of fulfillment. For the last three years, I’ve suffered a variety of medical malfunctions. Maybe I’ve suffered this wayContinue reading “Seeds”
An Invitation to Keep Your Course
Today, there’s a swearing-in. Yesterday, three hostages were released. The day before, TikTok “went dark.” Last week, Zuckerberg decided to eliminate fact-checkers on Meta, citing a “cultural tipping point.” Last year, Musk created a reel using AI, putting words in Harris’ mouth, and called it a Parody. In the days of yonder, we called thisContinue reading “An Invitation to Keep Your Course”
The World Needs More Than a Tweaking
I underwent a little spine surgery last Wednesday. Yes. I’m fine. Yes. It was a necessary tweaking, offering hope to alleviate pressure and pain on my occipital nerves. I think of all pain, nerve pain is the worst. No. Heart-pain wins. But this isn’t about pain. This is about hunger. The day after my tweaking,Continue reading “The World Needs More Than a Tweaking”
Let’s Say…
Let’s say, recently, interested men-folk express their said-interest in you by pointing out all that they are willing to accept. And, let’s say, their acceptance, which is tolerance in disguise, shapes into a short list and on this list is the life you’ve curated, including your four Newfoundlands, your adult disabled son, and your ownContinue reading “Let’s Say…”
My Little Guide to Soap-Making
Remember, there’s juiciness in stems as well as flowers.
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.
