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. Does it really require such…

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…

Three short pieces on chronic sadness & hope — Depression Is Like Midnight Depression is sitting behind thick glass — a translucent wall. You know the sun is shining, but you cannot feel its warmth. Depression is being a well that’s run dry, seeing everyone’s thirst, and knowing you’re empty. Depression comes like a thief. At first it takes little things. (You don’t…

How does one cultivate patience? — Be patient. How easy it is to resent those words — especially in this digital world. Those of us who used to type on typewriters and find source materials at libraries now grow irritated when an app or website takes too long to load. We achieve impatience in minutes because…