The Choice Should be Ours to make Not a power grab For them to take away from us Never thought I’d see the day, where that freedom slipped away. Remembering the horror stories of days gone by; with coat hangers, butchers with dirty knives.

Oh rowan and ash, oh oak, oh willow and pine. Oh save me from my mind, from belts and bruises and hammers. Please. Save me from burning flesh and screams screams screams. From electrical grids on a mattress and the quarters. Please. Save me from…

Phone rings Doctor’s office Tests reveal lymphoma Weeks pass with a myriad of tests Tests reveal Tuberculosis In anger, I said “get off my phone” Consult with a respirologist and several Tests Diagnosis, Sarcoidosis, what is that? Never heard of it? Chronic and inflammatory Better…

Green slick fluid skating the lake, punctured by frog legs barely caught in camera shutter before slamming lily pad down Bitter Smell of nature’s decay, multitudinous bacteria forming colonies finally visible to the eye, watering upon growing nearer Half-submerged log Forced into the ecosystem, helpless…

Let’s synchronize swim Alex the alligator Smiles and rolls for cheers

Prompt: “Write a poem about a time when something really bad happened…that later turned out to be a good thing.” Your absence burnt a hole into my heart, I couldn’t understand, your lack of empathy. Days and weeks go by, a once sunny time turned…

A Winter House My dream is wilderness, Solitude, complete aloneness. Space to create, to write, Draw, throw clay pots… A space to heal and To be allowed to cry, scream, rage as I heal. “Civilized” society can’t tolerate Real healing expression Of that I am…

‘Oh, don’t mind him.’ She waves her hand serenely through the air the breeze of his passing the only sign in its wafting of her hair And the drawn-out chuckle from Mr. Sloth in the corner whose slow smile shows supreme satisfaction at their son’s apparently…

Mommy lifted her onto the horse’s back. Kallie’s hair  in tight pigtails matched the horse’s red-gold mane.  Kallie squirmed and squinched on the hard, plastic surface and began to cry. Oh no, Sweetheart, this will be fun! Kallie looked at her mother, tears welling up….

It’s dark out- I’ve always been a fan of the dark- you see things a little more clearly You see people for who they are Passion can overtake you more explicitly in the dark ssshh no- I don’t want the lights on it sets the…