Cornered

June 23, 2023.Reading time 2 minutes.

It was the pitch of the two dogs barking in the backyard that alerted me to trouble. That and Pippi, the female, growling. The two had cornered a young groundhog between the deck steps and a tiered planter. After I sternly sent them back inside, I went out to check on the animal’s wellbeing. “He’s […]

Adolescence

May 24, 2023.Reading time less than 1 minute.

Poem and image my own

Excerpt from Cobwebs: A Short Story

May 3, 2023.Reading time less than 1 minute.

Perhaps Gothic Horror or Psychological Thriller? Read the whole piece.

Notes to a younger self

September 28, 2022.Reading time less than 1 minute.

You matter:that which gives us life(call it as you will)does not judge –know that you are precious,accepted, and loveable. Image mine

Receive

September 21, 2022.Reading time less than 1 minute.

Receive goodness:life is about balance –giving and receiving.You will feel tempted to give, give, give,but will never feel the joyuntil you learn how to receive as well. Art mine

Imperfection

August 3, 2022.Reading time less than 1 minute.

Discard the concept of perfection:choose to embrace vulnerabilityand imperfectionas fertile ground. (Image mine)

Pondering…

May 11, 2022.Reading time less than 1 minute.

Acknowledgment, they say, is a valid human need,yet, humility is a virtue…how do we balance the two? (Art my own)

Where is Home?

February 28, 2022.Reading time 2 minutes.

I ask my three-year-old self to show me her home, and she points to the floor beneath the formica-topped table in the kitchen. There, caged within the chrome legs of table and chairs, she is out of the path of adult legs, whose movements are as unpredictable as their moods. I ask my four-year-old self […]

Learning What Matters

February 21, 2022.Reading time 2 minutes.

Parents brought children to the occupation in Ottawa. They set up camp on a main thoroughfare, in front of apartment buildings and retail shops, and obstructed the lives of others. They honked their big rig horns, left their diesel engines running day and night, and set up barbeques, and food tents, and bouncy castles, and […]

How To Start a Cult*

February 16, 2022.Reading time 2 minutes.

Find an issue people are able to get passionate about, say, child trafficking. 2. Share information and increase the outrage. Start with facts, but insert the occasional manufactured story to test the waters. Maybe try Pizza Gate. 3. Increase paranoia by suggesting that so much is hidden from the public. Again, use actual cases, for […]

Where Are The Dogs?

Contemplating risk –a reunion with a former selflooking for an exit When did I become a snakerestrained?When did I become persona non grata? I slither between storiesconvince myself I can flydistraction a ruse I have big cat energyoverstepping boundariessocially adverse A faulty jeweldreaming of abundance but there’s a dragon to disarm My mother’s burden on my […]

Turning (tanka)

Mother

When I had a mothermy hair would cascadein curls of auburn perfectiona red velvet bow to accentuate the wave And I’d wear my bestnewly sewn frockwith lace at the neckand fishnet stockingsand patent Mary Janes And the girls giggling with delightwould skip hand-in-handto the school promand the boys shyly perchedagainst the back wall would wonderhow […]