Small skinny raindropsDribble out of the stonewashed clouds Dripping like sheets wrung out to dry The birds keep singing, always able to cope Unperturbed by the grizzly sky  My lightweight coat Feels like a warm bath-sponge And my shaggy dog Looks like a wet dirty mop He gives himself a watery shake I laugh, we continue on our way Nature’s gentle drizzly drops Give us ...

When I started the search for my biological roots, I was innocent and naïve. It hadn’t crossed my mind that my family would deny and reject me. I thought the most significant hurdle would be just locating them. I had little information; being adopted was like that. It was the proverbial needle in the haystack.  ...

Do you peer through the blinds? Did you peek and wonder? About the empty street outside Why is every morning like Sunday? A solemn quietness amplified  Do you listen to the bells chime? Did you hear your silent number? Ring from the phone-box outside Is the world in a slumber? Waiting, forlornly mystified

If you are a Californian, you know what is coming. For Manhattan dwellers, it is Central Park strolls with the first nips in the air. For Michiganders, it is the leaves in every variation of red, orange, and yellow, a spell of seasonal transformation that lasts a few fleeting weeks. For most, it is the ...

How strange it is that we can meet someone at the park, work, and school and quickly become friends. Before that moment, this person was a stranger. You realize everything you have in common through communication, time spent together, and a friendship blooms.  Before you know it, you are exchanging birthday gifts, sharing vacations, and ...

Launch away from the noise of the blue-green land,from an earth engulfed in hate.Launch away from the streets with doors locked tight,from the fights that wait at the gate. Launch away from the eyes that have grown so cold,that clutch us in fear like a vise.Launch away from the mobs that raze and that torch,and ...

The stolen world of silenceLingers above the cloudy skiesAnd lays below the oceans murky wavesBeyond the reach of humanities deadly violence While the wonder of life dwells in dreamsTo wander on the edges of nature’s endless seamsOf distant horizons and rainbow beams

Time hears no commandThe sky is our blue grandstandOverseeing oceans and landsAs the sun warms our silent clock hands The seasons come and goSpringtime melts the snowNature’s seeds germinate and growAnd our rivers of life continue to flow Has mankind become a pantomime show?And Forgotten to ask the owls and crowsHow to fly through?The bad ...

My youngest daughter plays the violin. Jellyfish dance in her eyes, her freckles dazzle, and her wiggly hair, untamed, audacious, erupts out of her hair tie. The sinuous, loopy notes swoop from under the door. It is a joy to listen to—meanwhile, the air conditioner whirls. Unable to take a breath—the heat is unrelenting as ...

Trigger Warning: Stalker “Hi, Veronica,” the bartender said as I sat down on the old rickety stool  I had become fond of over the last year, grad school was taking its toll on me.  After being turned down for several jobs, I found myself taking comfort in my good old friend, Jack Daniels. “The usual?” ...