Mutha
I’m so pleased to share two poems that were published today in Mutha Magazine. These two are part of the full-length poetry book I’ve been working on for years. I finally finished the manuscript in January, and sent it out to a number of publishers. Now it’s a waiting game! You can read the magazine […]
Quiet Dreamy Girl Noises
Silver Linings We are looping familiar ground, the houses predictable, almost dear. Across the way, an imposing home and its four outbuildings spreads along what used to be seven individual yards. The main house seems to peer curiously at our own small one. An anomaly, this mansion, penned in by a tall black fence that […]
More Autism Awareness
For many folks on the autism spectrum, medical encounters are fraught with anxiety and fear. Sensory issues, limited ability to understand procedures and express themselves, the speed at which things are expected to proceed, traumatic memories of previous encounters—all can combine to create some serious daytime nightmares. Bink and I have decades of experiences across […]
These Monikered Months
A month of daffodils is upon us. Yay, spring!! April has been branded both Autism Awareness Month and National Poetry Month. Here you go, then, a post that covers both. I’ve shared this poem before, but it feels annually relevant. As D, a sister mom of a young woman with autism says, ” We are […]
In the Pink
“Fruits on Pink” by Bink She begins. First, there is pink. Well…vivid electric magenta is more apt. She pushes the frayed brush into the water jar, hitting the bottom too hard. Taps out a neurodivergent rhythm on the canvas. Some would call it background. To her, I think, it is the main thing, the focus, […]
Anxiety, the unwelcome house guest (who never seems to leave).
Agita Sometimes I think there four of us making a life inside this sweet gray house. Add the felines, we make a quirky octad. There is the me who is I poet, I mom, I carer for everything and everyone who moves within this circle–– the him and her, the furniture which claims no […]
(She is) Unbroken
Unbroken There were times I imagined you different. My young mother mind pictured you— normal, typical, non-disabled. I can’t use those words anymore for their opposites evoke— lack, absence, tragedy, and you, my child, are a celebration of plenty, a bounty of delight, a well of fascination. In fact, you stand against the backdrop of […]
The Life Cycle of a Day
Bink and I walk outside a lot. We are blessed with a number of parks and nature sanctuaries in our area, and we know some of them quite well. This poem stemmed from a particular ramble early last spring. I’m pleased that Willows Wept Review chose to publish it in their fall issue. The […]
A Little Bullish
I know, I know. Much is not right here in the world. We conjure and raise up hatreds and fears born of misconceptions. We bow down to profit and convention instead of the goodness in each other. We make wars, first with ourselves, and then with those we call other. We perpetrate unspeakable violence against […]
April is….on Autism, Art, and Friendly Commerce
APRIL IS… As you may know, April is Autism Awareness Month. It’s also National Card and Letter Writing Month. Please allow me to make things more interesting by combining the two! Bink paints once a week, usually working on two canvases at a time. I also dabble in paints and colored pencils, with a nod […]