I’m not a poet, not even close. I’ve written three poems my whole life. The first poem I wrote when I was in about the 3rd grade. I was walking across the yard after an early sleet storm followed by a hard freeze. The poem dictated itself to me as I stepped lightly over the grass encased in ice. I[…]
On Finding the Word …
For months I’ve been trying to find the word that describes what I’m feeling inside these past 12 months. Is it fear? Is it dread? Is it anger? Yes, it is all of these things, but while those words are part of it, they don’t quite satisfy my need to find just the right word. Labeling things helps me keep[…]
On the Path to Peace…
I’ve heard the phrase “protect your peace” tossed around in self-development circles. It sounds good, but protecting my peace makes it seem like I have it hidden away somewhere, behind lock and key, where no one can get to it. That’s no way to live. I consider myself a nice person. I hold doors for people. I say, “thank[…]
On Forgiveness
January 15 was the birthday of someone I haven’t spoken to in over two years, and not spoken civilly to in about 9. I’ve been thinking a lot of forgiveness lately. Someone’s said recently that forgiveness isn’t acceptance, it is giving up the hope that the past could be different. I don’t know if the person who said that is[…]
On Christmas Traditions.
I am being haunted by traditions today. Christmas Eve 2020 is not like any other Christmas Eve. Normally, I would be rushing to finish up my work so I could join my family for our traditional Christmas Eve celebration. My siblings and I, together with our families and loved ones, would gather together at Mom and Daddy’s house. We’d give[…]
On Compassion…
Compassion seems to be in short supply right now. Maybe it is lost in shipping with the protein powder I ordered a few weeks ago, or out of print like the book of essays I tried to send to a friend. Maybe it is just out of fashion, like bell bottom jeans. I do not know. But, of all the[…]
On Fog
This year has certainly been one for the books. We find ourselves inside a real-life science fiction movie. We are in a global pandemic that everyone assumed would be over by April, May at the latest. But Halloween was a bust, Thanksgiving was via FaceTime, and now, a few weeks until Christmas, there is no end in sight. Everyone has[…]
On Perspective (a modern day Cinderella story)…
I was walking along on my morning sunrise walk when I spotted this lost shoe off in the distance. My curiosity peaked, I began to imagine the scenario of how that lovely bright blue shoe ended up on the side of a rural road in Oklahoma. I thought of a modern day Cinderella, racing home to make curfew after a[…]
On Grandpa’s Fiddle
My grandfather, Harvie Montgomery, gave me this fiddle when I was a youngster. I adored him. When I was about 25 years old, he developed lung cancer and died in just over a year. I have kept this fiddle in its case all this time. My mother remembers him playing it on their porch surrounded by family, his brothers playing[…]
On Old Dogs…
Sunday morning, like most mornings, my accountability partner, Myrna, and I went out for our walk. Myrna is Charles’ dog. He adores her. She adores him. But she also loves her long walks, which is where they part ways and I step in. Myrna is somewhere between 7 years old and Methuselah. We can’t really be sure because she arrived[…]