He’s had this green mohair cardigan for years. Charlene gave it to him. The same Charlene who scrawled across two pages in his high school yearbook. I tease him and call her “If-Our-Love-Is-True-Charlene.” And he laughs and crosses his arms and scratches them like he does when he gets embarrassed. But he still wears it […]
Five Minute Friday: The Reality of Grief
I flip through the pages of Time Magazine until she breezes into the waiting room to invite me back. “How are you today?” Her eyes sparkle, and the corners crinkle. I flash a big smile. “Fine. Just fine!” I climb up into the chair, and she pins the bib around my neck. She flips […]
Love and Stillness
Be still and know I AM. Know I AM and be still. Reposting this from the archives because my words have been stilled this week. ********** But now thoughts travel. I remember silence across miles. A bench seat center. Knee to knee. Left hand encircles wheel. Right hand encircles my left. World passes. No words. Just […]
Because it’s My Birthday: Horseshoe Lake (revisited)
I planned to skip today. I mean, celebrating my birthday with the one who gave me birth being gone now two days shy of only two months just seemed–well, too hard. I even stripped my birthdate off my Facebook profile so it could pass quietly. I tried to share my feelings with one family member–perhaps […]
Waiting with Courage
The rain’s shredded the white and left only scraps. The birds flock to the feeder, smother it. They dance on bare limbs. It’s easier to see them in winter. I suspect a lot of things become more clear in winter. I’ve got work to do, but I’d rather be here. In front of the window. […]
The Fragrance of Possibility
The world rests white this morning. A fresh palette waiting to be color splashed. When spring unleashes all soft and vivid. There are colors, Jodi commented, that we can’t see. Colors we can’t duplicate. Colors that will never grace a mixer. Kathleen talks about the excitement of a new box of Crayola crayons, becomes […]
Of Beans and Sawdust and Kitchen Floors
I let go of a piece of perfection. I wash my kitchen floor. I don’t know when I last washed it. How is that letting go of perfection? Because I tend to let the scrubbing go until I can plant my knees on this mat. Until I can do it up perfect. So I tend […]
Your Toothbrush is on Fire!
I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately. So it was the first thing that popped into my head when I read Lisa-Jo’s word prompt today: awake. I can’t really do the story justice, though. What would be best is for me to video my Sissy telling it. That’s enough to make the tears flow and […]
First Make the Sounds
The seagull–he no longer screams, “Mine!” He makes no sound at all. I can feel the song inside him, but it’s broken. I squeeze, but he only creaks, and I don’t see a way to fix him. I can’t find a battery opening. He’s a bit like me. My song feels broken, and my words […]
I Want You to Roar
A free-flying heart and mind and fingers for five short minutes. No second-guessing. No over-thinking. No editing. For Lisa Jo. On the word prompt . . . ROAR! Ready . . . set . . . GO! I want you to roar. To sink your teeth into the back of my neck and give […]
