Category: Women’s Issues + Awareness
You are like these slippers
This is what my pa told me – You are like these slippers You are a guest You think this is your country But it is not your home You are just a guest Don’t commit a crime They might deport you Don’t make mistakes They might jail you But Read more
They Could Guillotine a Baby’s Hand: A Foster Mother’s Story
The narrow wooden bench creaks and bows every time someone sits next to me. It arcs so deeply when a heavy man sits in the very middle, two feet away from my tight clasp of the built-in armrest at the end, that I fear the old wooden fibers are spreading Read more
Souvenirs of a rape victim
left behind in broken bits her scattered shadows dribble into eerie crevices spider webs and souvenirs of your violated presence henna palm stains as you pushed scratched on walls ankle bell trinkets unhinged scattered in shock rusty red patches as you scavenged of flesh that dripped into his stale breath Read more
Body Image and Me: Accepting Myself Even Though The Dress Doesn’t Fit Anymore
The dress is navy blue. Navy blue with cream color trim around the neck and armholes. It is a size small. I bought it to wear for an Easter Sunday; I don’t remember the year. The dress is one of the few pieces of clothing in my closet that doesn’t Read more
Had There Been Consequences
What if there had been consequences? What if there had been real, meaningful, painful consequences for that unspeakable act all those years ago? Would he still be alive today? What if he had been stripped of his fame, his fortune, his ego back then? What if he had been shunned Read more
When the Parent Becomes the Child: And Then There Was One
I’ve never minded solitude. For a writer, it’s a natural condition. But caring for a dementia sufferer leads to a particular kind of loneliness. —Laurie Graham My mother is leaving me. Her mind allows her to tell me about my favorite stuffed animal when I was three, my Effalunt, but Read more
Ode to the Girl with the Mermaid Hair
That girl, She was young, caring, kind, but naive. She was shy, hair as long as a mermaid, eyes filled with hope for the future. She was fifteen, beginning the process of figuring herself out, the person she wants to be. He was one year older, Dirty-blonde hair, blue eyes, Read more