Releasing Roots I pull out Mama’s earrings From the tangle of jewelry In the re-used coconut butter jar, Gently pressing them  Into the ears that  She pierced with an icy potato And a thin-pained needle When I was 11 years old.  They were her favorites And though she taught me That earrings don’t have to… Read More

For my mama on her 67th Birthday My Mama taught me When I was 5 weeks old, my father was killed in a car accident, my mama tried not to be sad when she nursed me, so I would not be sad, my mama taught me: Today is the day- to laugh, to learn, to… Read More

Freedom with a Roof At age 18 in January of our Senior year in high school my boyfriend Mike and I were chomping at the bit to get out on our own. We both grew up in Santa Clara Valley as the orchards were starting to disappear. We both had jobs in the tech industry… Read More

  Strange Fall Other years Autumn  Means  First the poison oak leaves flame a brilliant red,  while the mountain maple blazes yellow. Usually the thrumming cricket chorus thins to a few hardy soloists when the morning and evening’s chill  signals winter’s shadow  hiding around the slipping sunshine. This year the talk of drought and global… Read More

The Re-gift      I first met Nicki while moving in across the way from her house. Our children were both ready to launch from the nest, and my family was realizing a long held dream of relocating into the mountains. We loved that the house was at the end of a dirt road with… Read More

  I have been given such gifts words choke in my throat as I reach, I stretch, bend and shake toward expressing the utter astonishment the deep wonder the overpowering gratitude at this moment I am  awake Read More

Baby Girl Downstairs in the open loft apartment, I hear above me my daughter and her husband and my new grandbaby  having one of those rapturous conversations that involve  cooing and squeaks soft-voiced tender words and, sweet giggles and chuckles that wrap the love  of the deep presence with and around  this moment. That Alive, … Read More

Grampa’s hands      Grampa had sparkly brown eyes that simply shone when he told stories about his postal delivery days, or launched into a dramatic recitation of a favorite poem. He had a full head of hair that he kept neatly trimmed, and he dressed as dapper gentle men of his day did-  never… Read More

  My father grew up in a Irish-catholic family of 9, In the city of San Francisco, so his comfort food was usually canned- he would say “creamy” and I would say “mushy.” Later, I would barely recognize the diarrhea green spinach, the small skinless egg potatoes, the orangish spaghetti-Os and pungent Dinty-Moore stew that… Read More

    Co-creation   My children birthed me many times through our time together; we have labored over Our relationship Our independence Our interlocked destinies.   We have adventured as “family,” fought as friends do, with our least selves held in honor at some core level, while our higher selves offered bridges of joy and… Read More

Third Grade Move   We were late. I was horrified. The kind of fist-in-the-stomach tense that had tears trying to find their way out the burning rims of my eyes. I kept blinking, as we hurried toward the numbered door. Our new home’s construction was delayed and so this September day we had to cross… Read More

Revising the editor Limits, rules, restrictions, guidelines, walls, trigger my auto-response of arising fierce Kali-spirit that demands the shaking off of the yoke burdening my shoulders, spitting out the bit between my teeth, severing the ball and chain cutting into my ankle, and pulling the barbed wire from around my throat, to run wildly into… Read More

I keep stumbling over The edge of aging This wrinkled hand This creaking hinge This blank spot In the file cabinet That held the treasures And torments of a life A story That is still unfolding With a few missing Pieces   But relentless ticking And the sounding chimes Of a heedless clock A blur… Read More

My soulmate/boyfriend/future husband and father of my future children worked on me with words until I willingly released the traditions of high school to embrace the rebellion of making different choices.   Despite the Gunny-sax hippy dress that was the uniform of proms in those days, that I had shopped with mom and best friend… Read More

So I am thinking…   I need to look at everything in this house that holds 31 years of marriage and two grown children’s archives, and ask this 51 year old almost single self what do you need? Which books of 5 full book cases do you have to have near you? Which wall hanging/photos… Read More

Without A Word   Warm muzzle Cold nose Contented purr Protective bark Joyous wag Tempted twitch Raised eyebrow Leaned into leg Animal aromas Soft fur comfort Welcoming greeting Apprehensive parting Soundless song Intertwined with mine     Constant companionship Chores of service Enigmatic puzzles Bewildered apology Comic curiosity Demandless conversation Provocation of patience Eager pleasing… Read More

“I don’t know what you have experienced to make you “know” but I haven’t, so don’t give me that crap!” My husband was expressing his dismay over my encouragement to keep his heart open to the love that surrounded him, and to remember that the door to his heart opens from the inside. He is… Read More