Brief Connections

May 18, 2018.Reading time 3 minutes.

The morning drizzle gave way to sunshine by noon and even though I’ve been tired today, I decide to take advantage of the clearing before retiring for the evening. I grab my camera and go in search of worthy images, but my legs are useless today, so I decide to sit instead, on a picnic […]

Relationship Ruptures

May 17, 2018.Reading time 5 minutes.

The sign on the community pool clearly indicated that the pool was closed, and the gate was locked, but that didn’t stop my friend from scaling the fence and jumping in. Our other friend hesitated only briefly before joining her, and I stood by in disbelief. It was day one of our girls’ getaway, and […]

“Half of a Yellow Sun”: Review

May 16, 2018.Reading time 1 minute.

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie weaves an intricate tale, with well-developed characters and relationships, and just when the reader wonders where it is all headed, the unthinkable happens. “Half of a Yellow Sun” is not a symbol I would have recognized before reading Adichie’s work. Now I know that it is integral to the Biafran war, and […]

CFFC: Dilapitated

May 16, 2018.Reading time less than 1 minute.

What is it about run down buildings that stirs the imagination? This crumbling facade inspired the poem Abandoned: No voices linger, not even the sound of shattered glass echoes, only bones shedding flesh, an unholy darkness within, a mystery shrouded in silence. This is the schoolhouse where my mother-in-law had her first job as a teacher, […]

Come Play, Gamma

May 15, 2018.Reading time 4 minutes.

“It feels like my heart and my thumb changed places,” five-year-old Sloane says carefully guarding her injured digit. I can’t help but laugh. She can be a little dramatic, this one. “Can you get us a tissue?” I ask her older cousin. “I don’t need it! It stopped bleeding.” The blood has bubbled up on […]

Unsettled

May 14, 2018.Reading time 4 minutes.

The buzzer on the dryer startles me and I jump up, eager to change over the wash, only to find I have forgotten to start the washer load. I feel a tug of annoyance at myself. I am not functioning well today. Have been awake since well before 4:00 a.m. and am wired with non-sleep. […]

On a Lighter Note…

May 13, 2018.Reading time less than 1 minute.

Originally posted on This, That, and The Other:
Remind me to never visit Kansas City.

Hopeful

Curious by nature, and drawn by hope we push forward spring ourselves from the mud-mired traps of psychological undoings focus on a horizon where sunrises and sunsets offer glimpses of glory optimist and pessimist alike, daring to believe that the beckoning future bears equal promise. (This poem started with a few lines scribbled in […]

Love Cycles

Who instigated the abandonment? It’s an ugly question – manifests pretensions – both sides righteous, blinded… when the rage subsides faith will intervene, and acceptance – a milestone, will springboard recovery, victims voices gaining clarity, intent amended, launching into love once again.

Appetite

The initial spoonful – salted caramel cool – consoles bitten tongue, slides down burning throat: appeasement for churning gut. Each spoonful savoured sweetness countering bile, dark chocolate shavings as bittersweet as the emotion being pushed down, buried Bruised by conflict, words ineffectual, ice cream an unworthy compensation, cravings turn to salty reprieve.