CELEBRATION IS ANOTHER WORD FOR ALIVE
A long time ago, a man I once tried to love nearly killed me, held me at gunpoint and brutalized me for 17 hours in what had once been our…
YOU SAID HALO
The sky is wide and forgiving.There were leaves and grass in my hairand a different look about me when you loved me.In the mirror, my morning face is map relief.You…
ORIGIN #11
Which came first, my love? The night sky, or the fissure of light splitting it?So many years ago, at dinner, you said to me,just before we sat at the glass-topped table,after…
Centre County SHOWS SUPPORT FOR DOMESTIC VIOLENCE AWARENESS MONTH
And then there is the moment when you know that you are finally free, and freedom feels a little bit like a victory lap. Thank you to Centre Safe, District Attorney…
NOT EVEN MEMORY CAN STOP US NOW
I went back today to the courthouse where I took my abuser to court almost two decades ago. It was the first time I've been back since that day in…
AROUND THIS TABLE, WITH THE PENNSYLVANIA COALITION AGAINST DOMESTIC VIOLENCE (PCADV)
When I got out of the violence many years ago, one of the ways I rebuilt my life was to remind myself every morning in my writing that the only…
UNIONVILLE-CHADDS FORD WALL OF HONOR INDUCTION
This is the plaque marking my induction into the Hall of Honor in the Unionville - Chadds Ford School District, where I attended both middle and high schools in my…
APRIL SUPPORTS SURVIVORS OF SEXUAL VIOLENCE, CHILD ABUSE AND VIOLENT CRIMES
Beautiful people, April is recognized as National Sexual Assault Awareness Month and National Child Abuse Prevention Month, and it also contains National Crime Victim’s Rights Awareness Week. In honor of survivors of childhood sexual…
POEMS, PUBLISHING AND THE PIANO
With my publisher, Ron Moore of Baskerville Publishers, and the renowned pianist, José Feghali, Van Cliburn Gold Medalist, in Ron’s home in Fort Worth, Texas in May 0f 2014, months before the expanded, second edition of the scorched earth went…
MY COLLECTION OF POEMS, the scorched earth, ARRIVES!
I am overjoyed to announce that my book the scorched earth has arrived and is shipping! The Expanded, Second edition of the scorched earth and its audio companion, the scorched earth: spoken, is now available! This Second Edition, published by Baskerville…
SEASON
I collect leaves, walking alone at dusk in Kentucky autumn, for you, 3000 miles away in Northern California where climate and the wheel of the earth do not afford this turning blaze. Colors like pumpkin, like russet and corn yellow.…
Around This Table, REMEMBERING PCADV’S 25TH ANNIVERSARY
Today is the anniversary of the unveiling of the poem, Around This Table, that I was commissioned to write by The Pennsylvania Coalition Against Domestic Violence (PCADV) to honor their 25th Anniversary in October of 2001. Susan Kelly Dreiss was…