I Am the Color of Mixed Metaphors
I am the dark blue of a tumultuous sea, black at the depths where despair has sunk like a rusting sea vessel. Once bouncing with hope on white caps, wind at its bow, sun on its decks, now lost to…
Category narrative
Christmas Eve
The tree sits in darkness waiting to glow with the coming of dusk. Silent presents almost vibrating with anticipation of tomorrow. Malls have been walked with their lights and noise and gifts carried in big paper shopping bags. Gifts to…
Summers Before the Fall
It was always summer in the northwest woods of rural Wisconsin. The days were long and sunny, silent but for the bird song from deep in the trees. The milkweed lining the driveway had not yet opened to release its…
A Backdrop of Violence
(Content warning: contains references to violence, suicide, and self harm) I flinched as the pink plastic cat bank slammed against the floor beside my younger cousin’s head. I closed my eyes as her mother yelled in her face, about what…
A Collage of Words and Ideas
{ an essay of cut and pasted interconnected yet separate writings } Part I Anxiety has been my default setting for most of my life. It has colored every single moment, day, and memory for as long as I can…
The Value of Motherhood
What does it feel like to raise children in a society that doesn’t honor motherhood? It’s waking up in the middle of the night for years. It’s being puked on and yelled at. It’s driving to play dates and classes…
Hopeful Youth, Old Despair
Remember how it felt to believe in what you feel? When in our youth we held our emotions on the fabric of our sleeve and felt as if we had discovered sadness and anger. When we looked at the world…