Getting Hold of Fear

October 30, 2024.Reading time 1 minute.

Now that it’s dark early, putting the dogs out for their last ‘duty’ of the day, means taking extra precautions. We are always on the lookout for skunks, raccoons, possums, foxes, or even coyotes, as our backyard, unfenced, opens up to woods and farmland. The other night, I opened the door, made my usual noises […]

Community

October 16, 2024.Reading time less than 1 minute.

I love my solitude. The silence of my alone time allows me to plunge into creativity. Some days I feel as if I might submerge and never reappear… I suspect I suffer from social anxiety, and when I am able to recognize it for what it is and step over the fear, I often discover […]

Ice

October 9, 2024.Reading time less than 1 minute.

Interesting how confinement plays tricks on the mind. Directed to remain motionless, I spent an hour yesterday in a MRI machine. Despite the headphones, the bleeps and thrums seemed to penetrate my psyche. My body, taking advantage of my hostage status, decided to bemoan past injustices. While I focused on breathing, I listened to the […]

Art Demands

September 18, 2024.Reading time less than 1 minute.

(Art my own)

Patterns and Progress

September 4, 2024.Reading time 2 minutes.

I chose not to drink having grown up in a family of alcoholics. I wanted my children to have the experience of a parent who was present and predictable. It was an ideal, and certainly not perfect. My children, a generation removed from the trauma, choose to socialize with a drink. I’ve never seen any […]

Let Responsibility Lie Where It Belongs

August 28, 2024.Reading time 1 minute.

I was raised to be a fixer. Right up there with people pleaser, it’s a hard practice to shake. Recently, I’ve been struggling with my husband’s new habit of staying up late. I worry about whether or not he’s getting enough sleep, and concerned that he’ll hurt his neck if he falls asleep sitting up. […]

Packing

August 21, 2024.Reading time less than 1 minute.

We’ve decided, after five years of being homebodies, to try travelling again. He’s making reservations, while I make to-do lists and try to decide what to pack. Excited by the possibility, he draws up ambitious itineraries, and I’m feeling reality close in. What won’t fit into any suitcase, I gently remind him, is the promise […]

Limbo

August 14, 2024.Reading time 1 minute.

Waiting on the results of a biopsy, news comes of a relative’s death. A loved one struggles to make sense of the world crashing in around him. War continues and though I extend my hands to help, I am growing weary. Life is like this, I think. Just as we think we’ve found firm footing, […]

Reason for Being

August 7, 2024.Reading time less than 1 minute.

A note to my younger self, who spent far too much time worrying about her looks. A message to my granddaughters, whose individual gifts give me hope for the future.

July 31, 2024.Reading time 1 minute.

In my family of origin, the emphasis was on drama – who is doing what, and how they should change it. It was akin to a herd of cats all chasing each others tails. I understand now that this the dance of co-dependency. It’s a hard pattern to break free from. Bottomline is that I […]

Expectations

Expectations artificialliving in an urban junglelonging for nature’s calm – time moves too swiftlybarely registerlet alone participate We are guests in our ownexpectation’s dysfunctionlicensed for depression a smorgasbord for abuseintentions mislaid,disappointment unavoidable The ego pretends to be openbut she’s an actress off cueplaying out a sentence – condemned to basicspraying to escapethis dystopian malfunction. (Image […]

Overcast

Water mimics sky,withholds resplendent blue,dons grey overcoat. (Image my own, created from a photograph)

A Mother’s Grief

(Art my own. The drawing and the poem were in response to a documentary featuring a mother’s loss of her child by suicide. Please listen with care.) Sorrow lines her edgesin blue-hued shadowsgrief’s moss overpowering light Lines etched erasableshe is fragmented, hauntedpain a persistent noose She will rally to find orderlend her voice to causespeak […]