My dear younger self, This is your future – no, Don’t walk off, there’s things I want you to know. I remember you well, So new to the abyss We’ll return there, but You can get through this Happiness is not Confined to the past…

To Deanna, the Young Mom, Chin up my dear, it’s tough I know If anyone knows that it’s me. To have a child who is always sick Another with a disAbility. Take the journey day by day Learn all you can know It is perfectly…

poem 11 Dear little girl in a broken world that is fighting to dim your starlight, don’t let them hurt you or steal your joy just love them and show them what Christ’s like. -h.e.m.

Dear Divorcing Cindy, You are heartbroken right now Lost, alone, aching Contemplating your whole future Wallowing in every mistake every missed piece of evidence Every lie he told has become your darkness It isn’t. that’s him not you I know this hurts Your core is…

Sweet girl your reality was never what it was meant to be. So instead you dwelt in fantasy. And created a life as you hoped it could be. I’m grateful to you my Strawberry Girl, you helped me survive a brutal world.

“Dear 9 year old me” Stay in your room Let them sort it out You are not responsible It is not your fault She is sick in her mind A devil on the loose Do not open the door There is nothing you can do…

I dance in an unseen fog, desperate for the canteen I left behind on the trail, this damn concrete takes its toll on my knees with every step. In the shadow of the Douglas fir, I find a shelf to dock the book of my…

I don’t like the words you want me to use – at least not now, not now when I’m writing under the gun and atop a concrete table which under the best of circumstances I find too hard, albeit less messy than a fir table…

Coffee in the pot You laying at my side Your hair all messy and wild The hush of the morning muting the early sounds Sunlight creeping in through the fog of the Midwest dawn Too warm for sweaters, yet much too cold for bare feet…

It is common knowledge that otters sleep on their backs on the surface of the water, holding one another’s hands so they don’t drift off and get lost or worse. It is also known that bees snuggle together when they sleep, often intertwining their legs,…