• Mother of Beauty

    I always wanted to be exactly like my mother.  She was the nicest person I had ever met and was always surrounded by people.  I wanted to be just like her, but the more I tried, the more I felt my own spirit drifting away.  Drifting away to drown.  I found myself drowning in regret…

  • Horse Drawn Carriage

    “Last night I dreamed we left town on a horse drawn carriage,” my sister said from the backseat of my minivan.  I hated driving the old beat-up rust bucket, but if I wanted any life at all, it was in this minivan.  And if Gina was to get anywhere, I was most often responsible for getting her…

  • Schoolhouse

    Thousands of little words  Open to me as I sit  In silence, enraptured  By the beauty of my spirit  The expanse of my learning  The places I can go  Just by learning the words  How they go together  Rest together  Adventure awaits  Full of hope and resilience 

  • Sanctuary

    I always felt like the park next to my house was my sanctuary.  When my parents started fighting or I was feeling claustrophobic in our tiny house, I went to the park.  There were plenty of benches to do my homework and for the most part, the families who frequented the park were dog friendly. …

  • Flowers

    I watched the flowers bloom   right before my eyes.  I was green with envy  but not as beautiful as their stems.  I wanted to love them.  Their beauty enraged me  just as it betrayed my heart.  I wanted you to love me  just as much as you loved them. 

  • Never Alone

    My mother always remarked that she was never alone.  As a kid, I never understood what she was talking about since I had six siblings and none of us ever expected to be alone.  So of course, being our mother, we were constantly badgering her.  We were always loud and we were always up in each other’s business.  I knew everything about…

  • Courage

    He always told me courage  Was the best trait to have  Courage to go   Courage to try  Courage to start over  I never understood why he left  Why he backed out  Why he got so scared  Maybe it was courage  To say he was scared  Maybe it took courage  To leave.  He took his courage …

  • Tropical Island

    “I am going on vacation,” he said.  “I don’t care what I have to do to get there, but I am definitely going.”  James turned back to his computer and started looking again through pictures of Bali.  He had been talking of Bali for years and was now so fed up with our boss that he…

  • Clouds

    They floated above me  Finding peace in the wind  That I longed to feel  They moved at their own pace  While I ran with others  I longed for their freedom  Their compassion  Their release. 

  • The Crowded Train

    I never understood why Martin loved taking the train.  I preferred to ride in cars so I could stop whenever I wanted and could stretch my legs with a walk when I started to get restless.  I managed to get very restless these days and I have yet to figure out why.  Martin had insisted on this particular train ride and…