For Light Words by John O'Donohue Light cannot see inside things. That is what the dark is for: Minding the interior, Nurturing the draw of growth Through places where death In its own way turns into life. In the glare of neon times, Let our eyes not be worn By... Continue reading

When I was small, there was a swing that hung from the neighbor’s tree. A beech tree, with torn bark from where the wind pushed the swing too hard against its soft skin. On summer days, I’d wander into the neighbor’s yard, cut through the tree’s long shadow. Let my... Continue reading

For A New Beginning Words by John O'Donohue In out-of-the-way places of the heart, Where your thoughts never think to wander, This beginning has been quietly forming, Waiting until you were ready to emerge. For a long time it has watched your desire, Feeling the emptiness growing inside you, Noticing... Continue reading

“Stories make you brave.” Kate DiCamillo The streets in Japan are narrow. There is the smell of soy and earth, incense and mossy fingers wrapped between concrete. There are sidewalk gardens tended with delicate hands, a whispered push of broom against brick. The flutter of an open door resisting the... Continue reading

I leave for Japan in two weeks. 11 days to explore. 11 days to stitch and mend places in my heart that have remained unravelled for years. 11 days to find a story I thought I would never write. 11 days to bring the words back to life. Two weeks,... Continue reading

It’s been a year. A year since we bought a house and began the process of remodeling it. A year since opening it up and letting the walls come down around us. A year since I packed up my studio, my paper and scissor heart, inside walls of cardboard and... Continue reading

“There is nothing more truly artistic than to love people.” -Vincent Van Gogh We bought a house. The bedrooms smell like mothballs and it takes exactly 289 steps to reach the lake’s mossy shore. There’s a smudge where he pressed his hand against the glass to count the sleeping deer,... Continue reading

I carry your heart with me. I carry it in my heart. I am never without it. Anywhere I go, you go, my dear. And whatever is done by only me is your doing, my darling. I fear no fate. For you are my fate, my sweet. I want no... Continue reading

He walked in front of me and twirled inside the revolving door, going around two extra times before I made my way inside the hospital lobby. He touched the carved wooden statue of Mary with his fingers and looked up at me when he reached her face, waiting for permission... Continue reading

“In this modern world where activity is stressed almost to the point of mania, quietness as a childhood need is too often overlooked. Yet a child's need for quietness is the same today as it has always been--it may even be greater--for quietness is an essential part of all awareness.... Continue reading

The house is for sale. There is a sign in the yard that swings when the wind blows. We stood on the front porch and watched the clouds gather over the bent trees. I remembered the night the tornado hit several miles over the train tracks. He was close to... Continue reading

Dandelions under chins Words rearranged Skype coffee dates First conferences Shaky legs Paper petals Secret mother's day poems Allergy eyes Worn sketchbooks Driveway worm rescues Ampersand doodling Pockets heavy with heart stones Relentless hope Open bluebells Blackberry stained fingertips Wrinkled summer camp forms Tulip petals on the counter Chipped winter... Continue reading

His shirt had a long stream of mud down his back, the perforated line of a fast moving bike through after school puddles. We found his lost glove in the yard, wet all the way through, bird seed collected inside the thumb. And the sound of a bike thrown to... Continue reading