When your masks of pretend and deceit fall away, I’ll still be me. When your words slip, but cannot persuade, I’ll be the brutality that cuts the cord, in quiet whispers and kindness on the wind, ending in inevitable silence. You might see my visage…

He loved everything airy and light: traveling and laughter, unicorns and weed. He hated everything in the deep: Deep thoughts and conversations, emotions and being loved. And he hated me.    

I hear the melodic notes and can’t help but cringe. I can’t explain why. When I hear the artsy, folksy tunes of today and yesterday, I roll my eyes. When I hear the upbeat, funky pop music of today and yesterday, I shut it off….

I longed to walk among you as a child. You were sophisticated, sparkly, and accomplished. Living adventures I so desperately wished were real. Small town or big city, it didn’t matter. I grew up, stuck in the unseen world of not knowing how to break…

We raced through the jungle trails on a motorcycle, faceless men, clad in black, chasing us. Throwing stars at us from their Ducati’s, you were finally saving me. We spun around a corner, your father’s houseboat docked within the marsh. Safety, at last! There was…

Molasses eyes, vertiginous depths, tender in gaze, opened to me, abated my fear, born inside. Velvet hands of strength smoothed my tears; you spoke of hope and held me close. Distance called, left me cold, until heaven claimed you, and the earth kept you. Scarring…

Empty water bottles sit on my nightstand, having chugged them last night to hit my gallon-a-day mark. A vine of purple flowers, ten years old, finally hangs above my bedroom door, a thin canopy of color against the white walls. A salt lamp and moon…

You want magic where there is none. In humanity, whose spark is only meant to betray. In God, who is not a genie – no matter how many times you rub his belly with your prayers. In psychics and mediums, who tell you everything you’ve…

You walked in like a whisper, like fireflies in the day, until the sun set without warning. And I suddenly saw all that could be in a world that I wish was meant for me. Some punches to the gut can’t be cheated. The truth,…

I HEAR YOU Don’t speak, precious one. I hear your cry a thousand miles away, the silent tears strangling your throat, burning your eyes. Come, young or old, and lay your head in my arms. My lips against your cheek, as I have so often…