every so often
on early-morning walks
before the sun opens the day . . .
Butterfly Garden: Serena Eve Richardson
There are too many bodies
in the butterfly garden at the zoo
Humans outnumber the blooms
consume awe like nectar
Bridges: W. Arnold Yasinski
Bridges always lead to something
more. Looking over the rail high
above the water scares me, so I do it
until fear and reticence turn to thrill.
Your Wild Yes: Amanda Fall
“Words beat against my teeth. I cannot speak. Ache rises from my gut and forms a lump in my throat; I am wordless with need. I feel small, weak, not enough to face the rising tide . . .”
Close: Hannah Jane Weber
“a plastic wind bonnet secures her hair
she wears lightweight gloves
and a long trench coat
that flutters against scrunched pantyhose
her husband walks slowly behind her
one mottled hand carefully shadowing her left elbow”
Onion: Serena Eve Richardson
I shed layers, peel the tough
and the tender, all through the bulb
that makes up the meat of me
Fragility: Virginia Schnurr
. . . I should borrow a drill to bore
into this ice. Is it thick enough
to skate?
Grinning, my husband pushes
our four-year-old into the middle of the pond.
“You won’t learn skating by sitting on the bank.”
37 Things: Part 1
This is just a start. Maybe that’s the whole point. Another day, even a month from now—my list might look totally different. We keep saving ourselves, over and over. Choice by choice. Moment by moment.
GIVEAWAY: Gratitude Junk Journal 2021
I’m teaching in Tiare Smith’s Gratitude Junk Journal 2021! Enter to win a seat.
Soul Medicine: why I art journal
I scrawl tender truths in my waiting art journal. Heart pounds in throat, thick with yearning. I smear luscious color in oil pastel, jagged strokes speaking emotions with no name.