Nearly a year had passed and my clothes hung off my thin frame in tatters. The last week had been the hardest yet, with my horse dying and the last of my supplies gone. My legs had almost nothing left to give. My throat burned with thirst. I was so close, one more hill to climb and I would be home. As long as the spells had held there would be water, food and safety within. I rounded a corner in t...

It came to me like snails come to a garden

Ready to consume

The smell of rot and mold and death

Nature’s last perfume

The cancer creeping through my blood

To eat my body whole

The spirits hungry to join with mine

Devouring my soul...

I brought a pen and notebook.

Wrote down all their names.

Their middle names.

Their nicknames.

Their hobbies and habits.

Everything I could learn.

Their favorite food. Their childhood fears.

I learned every detail I could before it began.

To remind myself that they are human.

And to remind them too.

I have always been an empath.

I learned them all so well.

I talked to them, and actually ...

I thought my life was complete but in this moment it seems it was nothing before he came. My heart feels so full it could burst and tears fill my eyes. I can’t help but sob at the wonder of finally seeing his face. I know in that instant that I would gladly die for him, or kill for him, if he ever needed it. I am shaking all over as the midwife places him on my chest. “You’re here, you’re real!” I...

Going to write one for each of my kids

River

Full of spunk, sass and wit

She finds it very hard to sit

Still at the table or in a chair

Especially to brush her hair

Phoenix

He loves to color and look at books

Snuggle and give loving looks

But don’t tell him it’s time for bed

He might just smack you in the head

Willow

My bonus baby, twin letter B

She’s thrilled to be alive you see

She owns each ...

You loved your booze more than us

You said you’d rather go to jail than give mom money for us

You passed out when you were supposed to be ‘visiting’ us

You drove off the road and could have killed us

You tried to earn our love by bribing us

With extra cheesy tuna melts

And the toys that already belonged to us

Left at your house when we had to run

You hurt mom a lot but never us

(Except that one ti...

“Astonishing,” he says with no hint of surprise whatsoever.

“What is?” I ask.

He hands me the flyer.

‘Could your neighbor be a terrorist?’ It reads in bold letters across the top.

‘Foreign powers have been eager to take over our nation for decades, and now they have succeeded.’

The flyer went on to outline what could make your neighbors ‘suspicious:’ Non-English speaking, Muslim religio...

Tara’s story is in the near future. Northern Minnesota is getting more and more extreme weather thanks to climate change. In the winter there are massive blizzards shutting down roads and businesses for days. In the summer there are violent thunderstorms with numerous tornadoes, intermixed with periods of intense heat and drought. The story begins with the assassination of the US president, Vice P...

Whispers carry

So we speak in code

Talk about the weather

And pies a la mode

No one suspects

We’re actually planning

A revolution

It’s Just beginning...

I stand below the mountain looking up

My feet can’t wait to start the rustic climb

At the summit I and my love will sup

And drink from flasks of dry and fruited wine

The journey starts with just one trembling step

Potential looms ahead like stone hewn stairs

Waiting to be conquered skipped and leapt

Taken one by one and sometimes in pairs

Green fir trees, oaks and maples to discover

With flora,...