Confessions From the Sickbed

December 27, 2017.Reading time 2 minutes.

Before illness, I counted days and hours, not out of drudgery – I had stretched myself beyond normal limitations. Before illness, I wore responsibility like a hero and defined by work, prioritized tasks above well-being. Before illness, I joked about the disabled, lounging around, living the life of leisure, usurping the system. Before illness, I […]

#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 […]

Life Is Like This

October 13, 2017.Reading time 1 minute.

Biting, the sun’s brilliance – set against a cornflower blue sky – competes with the mustard gold, tangerine orange and chartreuse leaves, shimmering in the breeze the vividness of colours, too sharp for just awakened eyes, begs retreat. I contemplate what I have witnessed, think life is like this: too beautiful at times for words, […]

Another Open Mic

October 5, 2017.Reading time less than 1 minute.

Here’s yours truly reading Absence and They’re Just Family, After All at an Open Mic (only my third). To see the full poems, please click on the links.

Creative Process

September 14, 2017.Reading time less than 1 minute.

Originally posted on One Woman's Quest:
Routine, I find, is both a comfort and a discomfort. Stripped of all routine when I first became ill, I floundered about looking for some order to the resulting chaos. I longed for a routine, like a navigational device, to help me define exactly where I was in…

A Tapestry of Poems

July 26, 2017.Reading time 2 minutes.

I write poetry. I play with images conjured up while sleeping, until a message appears. (I describe this process in an earlier post: Composing Poetry. ) I’ve noticed that the dreams, and consequently the poems, will follow a particular theme, and I thought it might be interesting to introduce the poems of a series to one […]

“Dear Charlotte Perkins Gilman” Performed

April 18, 2017.Reading time less than 1 minute.

Yours truly ventured out to an open mic, with the support of two of dear friends. Despite how unwell I was feeling, my companions arranged for me to read my poems before I could retreat. This was only my second visit to an open mic poetry session, and I decided to read a personal […]

Over It!

One day it’s so mild that I don’t bother with a coat, the next we wake up to snow on the ground. The plants pushing up through the soil seem a little more patient than me – as if they are humouring nature’s fickleness. I’m ready for clear change. A pair of finches just flew […]

Present Distance

I’ve lived the fog of distance –life’s highway a series of hillsdestination without promise Have learned that acceptance gains perspective,that climates change, and hope sustains,and that in the stillness dreams renew. Now I travel quieter paths, appreciatespace, have surrendered to a slower pace –certain that this too will change. (image my own)