born late (if you believe in due dates that is)

at 43 weeks gestation she stuffed herself into a taxi in the cold dead of a January morning with the determination and quiet resolve of a newly designated mother   after 27 hours of pacing he marveled at the 5 pound newness of her perfect fit in his hands what wonder is this he asked…

swashbucklers, ramble rousers, voyagers galore

hot summer rain, steam streams off side walks and the hard concrete of a 12 by 14 front porch. broken drain becomes Niagara falls, though we have never seen it. pictures from mama’s Britannica are all we need to know this is what it must look like. “Monsoon,” he screams and we laugh so loud…

fredrick douglass & mr. covey (a found poem)

My mind left me to my fate. Under the circumstances I watched my chance, disregarded threats and made my way. I walked through woods. My strength failed me. I fell down for a time. I nerved myself again and started through bogs and briers home. About this Poem: I am a day late with this…

a ditty with words (octpowrimo day 17)

bare all beneath drunk cry fiddle love or recall a sleeping sky sing the ugly sweet smell who, you were About this Poem: I used the magnetic poetry tool suggested for Day 17 of OctPoWriMo to create the poem above.

this poem is for mariah (the first free woman of my line)

solemnly by a lakeside i once sat upon a hill, teaching myself to pray it was a not so long ago time when a feast of fear was normal fair i happily prayed for days of ever increasing joy believing my after would surpass my grandmother’s before and so it has amen. About this Poem: My…

half a life, no longer a wife

half is considerably less than all when there are full size bills in this medium size life with extra large shoes to fit mini-size you.

hymn 195: blessed is this single mother

don’t get it twisted this life is impossible without great assistance ‘it takes a village’ may be an edict some merely speak to unclench cheeks but this is a philosophy not a hypothesis for me it takes a dentist, a baker, a prophet, and toy maker to mold this world of a near perfect peace…

because pink is no longer guiltless or cheerful

please click the picture to learn more about breast cancer i wish pizza boxes and pink ribboned socks actually cured cancer i wish walking this mile and sending this smile on instagram made chemo cheerier i wish promises of whatever i can do will be done actually changed diagnoses and extended prognoses i wish sending…

hollywood’s selling but i ain’t buying

tangled sheets intertwined sweaty limbs gasps coming so swiftly they are indistinguishable is that your breath or mine both Hollywood and Disney have you sold on a lie spending lifetime and savings in search of eternal first kiss fervor while hoping for the drama of stolen embrace in a gentle downpour leaving you heaving in…