Trauma’s Shadow is Rage

September 22, 2018.Reading time 3 minutes.

“…he had always been popular and happy and things had always worked out.” (Holly LeCraw, The Swimming Pool) I close the book, feeling the rage shifting just below my sternum. It’s the second time this week […]

The Risks of Playing in Traffic

September 19, 2016.Reading time 4 minutes.

Go play in traffic, kids! was a favourite direction of one of my aunt’s. This particular aunt was snarly, often critical, and never filtered in her commentary on life. Her favourite point of contention was how spoiled we children were, how unappreciative, etc. She also frequently threatened to move to Alaska to get away from […]

Wasn’t Meant to Be

Love evolves –a considerationwe overlookedthose day whenpassion drove usto fanciful displays Tried to align myselfto the certaintyof your dreamsbut my compasswas set elsewhere Memory, thoughhas tattooed uson my heart;the ink still bleeds. (Tuesdays, I borrow from Twitter @Vjknutson. Image mine.)

Cryptic

Is the writing on the wall so cryptic?Graphic images depict rageflames of dissonanceyoung men bleeding at their own handscompassion incapacitated. A sad awakening for a society fixatedon rights and privileges, dominating culture excluding the nurtureof humanity, or preservation of life. How can we continue to closet our children’s pain – their vitality oozing – hopelessly […]

Needing a Sign

Restlessness accompanies meon this sojourn today –unfazed by ripe redbelly of robin,or shimmering emeraldof breeding merganser’s crown. My lens seeks out decay –rotting wood, darkened cavities,as if my soul craves reassurancethat life persists even where deathhovers – I need a sign Discontent, I move on-drive the river roadsnail’s pace – praying forsomething to shakethis malaise […]