What would I be bold enough to tell death if I invited him to join me for a chat over a cup of warm peppermint tea?
“Perhaps part of me wished for a do-over; a second chance to reach that elusive balance between caring for my daughters and self care. Perhaps I wanted to know I wasn’t alone in my struggles.”
Years ago my husband and I were quite poor in money but abundantly rich in dreams, hope and love. That year we exchanged simple boxes of Cracker Jacks for Valentine’s Day. Of all the Valentine’s Days that have come and gone since then, it is the one I remember most fondly.
Some may say, “Don’t worry about it. You were merely being friendly.” But the truth is I felt the need to protect him with my whiteness. It is uncomfortable to accept the harm my whiteness has done. I want to shirk my guilt by saying I shouldn’t be blamed for something I didn’t ask for. I mean really the tentacles of systemic racism were here long before I was born. I didn’t ask for the entitlements I’ve benefited from and I certainly haven’t been racist. Have I?
Annie was everything I didn’t want in a dog, yet everything I needed. But my story doesn’t start with Annie. It starts with Chocolate, a lab shepherd, who also happened to be the best dog ever. I found him from a flyer pinned to a bulletin board at the market with the word “Puppies!” in bold across the top. There was…
I’ve been circling around writing for the past few months without actually writing; like a movie shark circling around a bloodied limb but never clamping down with its razor sharp teeth. But as with most things I try to avoid, eventually I come to a dead end and I am face to face with it. I wondered…
Dear Nassau, Thank you for your Junkanoo drums vibrating deep into my bones. For Straw Market bartering, beaded braids, drunken tourists and cruise ships that line your harbor. Does it bother you they rarely ask to see all of you? Thank you for people that work hard but laugh harder whose words flow in easy…
A poem about finding the calm within oneself regardless of the weather swirling around you.
Each day I walk around in white skin enjoying the safety and privilege that entails. I did nothing to earn this, but I have benefited from it from the moment I was born. Those I love the deepest, my husband and daughters, are the most beautiful of black. One day my grandchildren will…
“Shake Dem Halloween Bones” by Mike Reed is a children’s book that combines colorful illustrations of children dressed in fairy tale costumes with a catchy chorus. “Shake, shake, shake dem bones now. Shake, shake, shake dem bones now. Shake, shake, shake dem bones at the hip hop Halloween Ball”. We read the book and sing…
We’ve got pieces of us we left behind. Parts of our heart we may never find. Pieces of paper waiting to file. Parts of secrets locked deep for awhile. Like chapters in novels or hours in a day, Breaths in a lifetime. Scenes in a play. Life is just pieces and parts. We have pieces of…
I grew up before the internet, video games, cable TV and smart phones had been invented. My childhood electronics included a radio, alarm clock, record player, and television. I learned about the world from news my parents watched or from folded newspapers tossed on our porch in the sleepy hours of the morning. I would…
