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 […]

Reggie

October 6, 2020.Reading time 3 minutes.

I have a crush on my brother! I know that’s not right, but he is so gorgeous! Long golden hair, blue, blue eyes, and a smile that makes me melt. I can’t look at him without feeling all funny inside, and I’m sure he can tell. He doesn’t talk much, but once he picks up […]

When the Unravelling Started

September 27, 2020.Reading time 4 minutes.

It was a neighbour girl that started it. We played together one day – a rare occurrence, as she seldom came outside. “How do you know you’re not adopted?” she hissed at me, as if to say: You don’t know everything. I started to answer, but then, the words got stuck. How did I know? […]

Only If I Knew…

September 25, 2019.Reading time 2 minutes.

“I wish I was a boy, Grandma.” “What makes you say that?” “Boys don’t get their monthly thing and they don’t have to birth babies.” I remember thinking the same thing. I also remember how unfair the world seemed, growing up in the era of Women’s Lib, recognizing the broad stroke of inequality. I didn’t […]

A Child Glows

September 8, 2019.Reading time 1 minute.

Child,delightful youth,my heart’s jewel,you are light-bearer,hope for the future – antics haphazard,laughter contagious,spreading joy,sparking imagination – I pray that your spiritremains joyously vibrant,that reality dawns gently –polishes the radianceof your glow. *** I wrote A Child Glows in November of 2018 in celebration of my granddaughters. I have edited here, slightly. Image from personal collection. […]

Preferred Fashion

September 5, 2019.Reading time 1 minute.

Age allots me the excuse to ignore fashion,invites me to wear bright colours, dance in offbeat shoes, wear hats of any flair,and announce my mood in any given moment. Yes, being a senior citizen is most freeing –not unlike my childish kin. (For Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge: fashion. Also submitting to V.J.’s weekly challenge: child/ […]

V.J.’s Weekly Challenge #62: child / childhood

September 2, 2019.Reading time 1 minute.

My daughters gave me a copy of this poem, surrounded by images of me playing with the grandbabies. It always brings me joy. As summer comes to end, and the children return to school, I am already feeling the loss of our time spent together, so; I thought it might be fun this week to […]

Mother Willow

August 15, 2019.Reading time less than 1 minute.

Twisted arms, Willow’swelcome – cross child’s refuge,Mother Nature’s balm. There is magic in a Willow’s presence – so many hours spent, hidden in her arms as a child. Even today, the sight of a willow pulls on my heart. Just one of Nature’s many blessings. (For Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge: trees; and RonovanWrites Haiku Challenge: […]

Into the Woods, Nostalgia

June 4, 2019.Reading time less than 1 minute.

I search for her in wooded places,where trees are guardians,and wildlife reigns Where light dances with shadowsand children’s hearts are free to imagine. Wooded areas, especially when there is a stream, take me back to childhood and the countless hours spent in search of nature’s wonders. (For Nancy Merrill’s A Photo A Week Challenge: nostalgia. […]

The Car Crash

That time, playing in the muck,foot emerging without a boot,hopping and laughingall the way home… Then, later, on the busthe impact of the carthe windshield crackinglike a giant spiderblood all overthe dead lady’s face All in the past –sunroof openkids riding along,music blaring But trauma is a spiderArachne reaching into happy placesand as much as […]

Empty Surges

Measured in spoonfulsprogress imperceptible Still feel the angst ofno-time-to-breathe lifestyle pressured from withinto get-it-done spend unavailable resourcesruminating solutions push against the wallswith little to show surrender to impotencyand wait for the next surge.

Hurricane

Sister was a hurricane –destruction her path Tried to calm, encouragebut her core was damaged Try to reach her now, across death’s abyss understand beforeher legacy swallows me.