Trickster

February 14, 2024.Reading time less than 1 minute.

Without resources to deal with the trauma of my youth, I buried it. It would surface again, when as a young mother, I sought for a deeper understanding of life. I searched for the light and found only darkness – the truth of my own victimhood. I did not see how my obsession with healing – the […]

Paradoxical

October 3, 2019.Reading time 2 minutes.

Fear and intimidation formed the basis of his power. To this day I tremble, afraid I’ve misstepped – parked the car wrong, forgot to close the door properly, or spoken out of turn. My father was a hand grenade with the pin perpetually pulled. He was also motivational, citing the works of Carnegie, Peale, Gibran, […]

Lost and Found

July 23, 2019.Reading time 1 minute.

Fallen limbs and pathless woodsno obstacle for a wild childleft to her own devices,searching for a self. Only with age, and sproutingcurves, did I learn to be afraidof shadows, that the woodsequated with wolves and lurking And that abandoned placeshouse evil – held captive therejust this side of adolescence – lost all that innocence gifts […]

The Father I Miss

March 23, 2019.Reading time 3 minutes.

Father abhorred laziness. “The idle mind is the Devil’s playground!” he’d say. Or: “What are you trying to do; win the horizontal championship?” Well, I’m the horizontal champion now, thanks to illness. Wonder what he’d say about that? Still, I’m not lazy. To my face he was hardcore, unless he was soppy drunk, then the […]

Birthing The Soul

October 18, 2018.Reading time 6 minutes.

I stuff down the cookies as if the faster I eat the more I can distance myself from the misery that has bubbled to the surface. “Write about it,” my psychologist suggests as she ushers me out of the door, our session having run past the allotted time. I told her about the weekend I […]

Exit Strategy

September 28, 2018.Reading time 1 minute.

One more train. Then she’d be away. Far enough to lose all communication. Far enough that he could not find her. “Can I help you Ma’am?” a porter reached for her luggage. Passengers crowded in behind. “Just a moment, thanks.” Pulling her suitcase aside, she fidgeted with her purse, pretending to be searching for a […]

Trauma’s Shadow is Rage

September 22, 2018.Reading time 3 minutes.

“…he had always been popular and happy and things had always worked out.” (Holly LeCraw, The Swimming Pool) I close the book, feeling the rage shifting just below my sternum. It’s the second time this week […]

Stalking is a Crime

December 29, 2017.Reading time 7 minutes.

I’ve been stalked several times in my life: by an acquaintance of a former husband, by a fellow student at university, by a man I’d met at the Y, and by a former partner. In the first two instances, I was naive, and only when the situation escalated did I become concerned. I confronted my […]

Harassment

November 24, 2017.Reading time 4 minutes.

It was a perfect summer evening for a gathering – warm but with enough of a breeze to make it comfortable. Holding onto my companion’s hand, I lead him through the throngs of people to find my fellow co-workers. Micheal and I had dated casually, but it wasn’t going anywhere. He still loved his ex, […]

#MeToo

October 20, 2017.Reading time 2 minutes.

So many have expressed the lasting pain of sexual harassment, exploitation, and rape better than I, and yet, I feel that all of our voices need to be lifted until respect replaces entitlement, and honour becomes instinct. This fight is not new. Nor is it close to being over. For my part, I write. The […]