THE WARMING

I have known heat that left marks The kind I reached for because For a moment the pain of fire Was louder than that of heartache But there is a different kind of heat The kind that heals us From the inside out An invisible blaze That doesn’t scorch the skin But warms the parts…

SALTY WORDS

Years of healing has led to valuable insight about growth. Things I’ve been through I wish I could help other people through. Liquid streams of blurry salt Are coating every single syllable Salt shakers emptying on tables After everyone has long left Where ants make hills that glisten From leftover vowel’s discarded They are the…

ALL OR NOTHING

A little over a decade ago my nervous system overloaded. It was powering a whole city and maxed itself out. Today though it is back online and more stable than it’s ever been. And I’ve found peace. It cost me though. Dreams died. People left. Hope stepped aside while healing became a full time effort…

A CLOSET FULL OF HATS

I’m bossy because I’ve been told that I am. I’m a narcissist because I’ve been told that I am. I am ugly, unkind, impatient, selfish, weak, overly emotional, irrational, and an ignorant liar. And those people are right. I have worn every one of those hats at some point in my life. I know how…

A ROOM WITHOUT CHAIRS

The words on the door said Only rule: Don’t sit with sinners And it was a room without chairs Just a room full of people Thousands pointing at each other Arms tired Fingers bloodied and raw Stitching scarlet letters Onto wrinkled, worried foreheads Everyone wore one None could read their own They called it justice…

TRUST THE PROCESS

Somewhere in the middle it stops making sense. The painting turns muddy. The story forgets where it was going. The project looks nothing like the vision that kept me tossing and turning at night. I think this is where I most feel like quitting. Not because I can’t do it but because it no longer…

MEET SOPHIA – SPILLING OVER EDGES

POET BIO: Sophia has a daring heart. Anxious, full of dreams, and endlessly persistent. She watches as her fears circle the drain and then instead of following them she renews her hope and chasing the small opportunities in each day. She may look soft but she has a fierce determination to get out of her…

MEET CLAIRE – IN FULL COLOR

POET BIO: Claire is a very colorful person. To her living life in “full color” represents emotional richness, diversity, and authenticity. She may seem aloof but only because she gets lost inside the vibrancy of life all around her. Her mind moves like watercolor turning ordinary moments into art. She doesn’t just see color she…

INTO THE HOLLOW

Sometimes the news gets to me. I mean how could it not? I’m trying to hold onto joy but it’s like a slippery trout trying to jump from my hands into a frying pan. Some days I still wake up Inside the ache Of remembering Of something I’d promised I’d outgrow It sits on my…