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, […]
Still, After Years
This is the Love Poem, Mid-Life for Super Guy “Who, being loved, is poor?” –Oscar Wilde Remember the night I woke moaning, ankles on fire, some ghost gripping my arches, preventing even a twitch of toes, a wiggle’s wriggle? You rolled without hesitation from the warmth of our layered nest, cast aside your beloved pillows— […]
The Continuing Saga of Little Stream
A 2022 Story Part 11 You can read part 10 here: https://www.melindacoppola.com/little-stream-an…22-story-part-10 Part 11 “Lily Pond?” Little Stream called out again and again without answer into the bright air. Her voice was thin and tired, and it seemed to blow away in the wind. The long, odd journey she’d been on felt like a […]
Old into New
The Boathouses, Acrylic on canvas by Melinda Coppola Natura Illustratio Nature is a picture book of wisdom and example, an illustrated guide to how we could arrive, and live, and die. Take, for example, a leaf in spring. It draws from mother tree the energy it needs and not a drop more, grows […]
Pippi
For the most part, my childhood nourished my creativity and sense of wonder. I feel so fortunate to have come up in a time before cell phones and social media. My knowledge of screens was limited to our old black and white TV set and the occasional movie outing. Children’s literature was a treasured […]
Grandma Moses Speaks to My Lengthening Years
Anna Mary Robertson Moses, aka Grandma Moses, is one of my inspirations. I do enjoy the quiet beauty of her landscapes that hearken back to what many consider simpler times, but what really captivates me is her story. Grandma Moses was 78 years old when she began painting in earnest— a fact that has […]
Rhyming to Death
I started writing poetry when I was 8 or 9. My first notebooks were full of rhyme, crude as it may have been. Over the years my writing morphed into rambling narrative free verse. From time to time I enjoy a quick dip back into the rhythmic river of rhyme. It feels playful to me […]
A 2022 Story, Part 9
Part 9 You can read part 8 here: https://www.melindacoppola.com/a-2022-story-part-8 The skies grew dark earlier and Moon stayed longer. Sun still warmed the skies, but the air was crisp and cool. Trees on the banks of Big River dropped bright, wide leaves or dry brown needles into the swirling waters, and still Little Stream and Wee […]