It’s very early Sunday morning when my phone rings.  Getting calls at odd hours – late at night or early in the morning – makes me nervous. Will it be my mom calling in a panic because something has happened at home?

I glance at the ID. “Dean.” Relief… just … Read the rest

Tuesday night is library night.

Afterwards the two of us visit the community garden and wander down the narrow lanes between plots – micro farms bursting with growing things. Like any six-year-old, my companion is a know-it-all and loves to demonstrate her knowledge by naming various plants: “Peas.” “Corn.”  She … Read the rest

You’ll be perfect,
for the one
who deserves you.… Read the rest

Was it true and honest?
Was it necessary?
… and was it kind?… Read the rest

It was last year around this time when my brother announced he wanted to move.  The town he called home was inexpensive and rural, an easy commute to work., the kind of place you might drive through on the way to somewhere else.  It’s sole nod to modernity was a … Read the rest

If you hold a heart that sings secret songs
closely to your ear,
you can hear the words your parents spoke
when your father drew your mother near.

If you hold the hand that took too long,
the one that seems too far,
you can tell who loves you, who … Read the rest

“After the final no there comes a yes
And on that yes the future world depends.
No was the night. Yes is this present sun…”

There is an ambiguity with all good poetry, but this feels hopeful … like something pure that endures.

I’m a firm believer in the power … Read the rest

It’s autumn 2013.  I’m at the doctor’s for my annual physical and predictably he hones in on my weight.  A sixth of my body has melted away.  “Stress,” I tell him. Not a problem easily solved by a general practitioner.  “Sleep?” he asks. I admit I struggle. This … Read the rest

I keep my eyes fixed on the road while my girls watch videos on the iPad in the backseat. The three of us are headed north to New Hampshire to visit their new cousin.

If left to her own devices the older one would silently play Minecraft the entire trip.  … Read the rest

I hear clocks ticking.  Tick. Tick. Tick. Tock.

The woman sitting in the padded chair across the room stares at me, pondering her next words …

Tick. Tick. Tick.

“Well … ”

She’s my third therapist in as many years. Sometimes I laugh at how life twists in unexpected … Read the rest