Why Did You Kill My Sister?

“To rise, first you must burn.” ― Hiba Fatima Ahmad Dear Mike, When you were alive, I never quite knew the day of your birthday. Kay had to inform me the day you were born–“Oh, did you know it’s Mike’s birthday today? I’m having cake and ice-cream later on. Pleeeeease Read more

Free Bird

He had already locked the front door so she couldn’t escape, couldn’t open her cage.
Perhaps he uttered a prayer to whomever murderers utter prayers too. Perhaps he gave last rights to himself, took communion, had a last meal, said goodbye to his mother, brother, sister, children, the cats.

What the Therapist Said

i unloaded the dishwasher that morning and then i went to therapy and unloaded on this new doctor and she said, perhaps, maybe, possibly my post-partum depression was because i just missed having attention because all the babies i had lost apparently hadn’t given me enough unwanted side-show-status-attention i wondered Read more

After the Murder

“Your coffin reached the monstrous hole. And a part of me went down into the muddy earth with you and lay down next to you and died with you.” ― Rosamund Lupton, Sister After the murder, my prayers went something like this: “Help me. God, help me. Please, fucking help Read more

You Rise

(For my dear sister, Kay, I’m so sorry I couldn’t save you.) Your face is fading. I see shadows of chin, cheekbone, childhood inside my mind. Orange Kool-Aid, baloney sandwiches, Aunt Carol’s peonies like colossal, pink faces thrill us. He loves me, he loves me not. You tell me you Read more

Being Jennifer Levin’s Mother

I grew up in the same building that Jennifer Levin’s mother lived in. Do you remember Jennifer Levin? She was the 18-year-old girl who was murdered by Robert Chambers in the late ‘80’s – in New York City. I think it was April of 1988. I remember I had won a Read more

Letter from an Arizona Jail: My Friendship with Jodi Arias

“So the question is not whether we will be extremist but what kind of extremist will we be. Will we be extremists for hate or will we be extremists for love? Will we be extremists for the preservation of injustice, or will we be extremists for the cause of justice?” Read more