A Lesson for American Heart Month — On this, the final day of American Heart Month, the heart is very much on my mind. In the days leading up to and following Valentine’s Day, my heart was trying to tell me something, but I either didn’t understand the language it was speaking or had it on mute. …

When thoughts & prayers feel insufficient — Death. What a small yet ominous word. I remember being so afraid of death as a child that I put off reading Judy Blume’s Superfudge for a whole year. Of course, once I actually read the book, I loved it. In fact, Judy Blume was my first favorite author. But…

3 short pieces for spring and the sun, moon & stars — Spring Is Like Life Spring never fails to impress me. I marvel at it yearly. To watch as once barren branches that looked incapable of life when coated with winter’s snow or sparkling sheets of ice suddenly explode with puffs and petals — blossoming overnight — is an inspiration. I admire life’s triumph with…

They’re Nothing to Be Ashamed Of — How often do we say, “I’m fine” when we are, in fact, in agony? When the hurt is real, why are we so eager to deny or minimize it? Why do we keep our pain so private? We push it down and cover it up. …

Every time I get mad…I learn something — If you’re incapable of expressing anger, then your emotional repertoire is incomplete. Every emotion has a place. Like instruments in an orchestra, without them all, there is no symphony. Every emotion also has both healthy and unhealthy modes of expression. Love can be contorted into lust or lead to infatuation…

Poems & thoughts on the vernal season — Spring Is Not Subtle Spring is not subtle with regards to life. With explosions of blossoms it emphatically reminds. It bursts with delicate colors. It pushes through chilled earth. It rains. It shines. It shivers. It warms. Spring is not a modest season. It is soft, and bold, and bright. It indulges the nose…

Ukraine needs more than our thoughts, prayers, and sanctions — I love America, so I don’t like when it disappoints me. But the last few years have held a litany of disheartening events: Watching the angry responses to Black Lives Matter — not the extremists or the looters, the activists protesting the disproportional violence against and death of Black men…

Why I love playing with words — As an only child for seven years, writing was one of my first companions — after stuffed animals and Barbie dolls, that is. And unlike my imaginary friends (of which I had many), words were tangible and ostensibly powerful. Even as a child I loved that words are adaptable to…

Three Poems for Valentine’s Day — Your Love Is Like Sunlight Your love is good medicine. It repairs my soul. Your love is like sunlight. It helps me grow. Like cool water to a parched throat, you quench my thirst. You sate my hunger like a feast of my favorite foods. Your love is the song that I dance to. It’s…