making the grade

The frequency
with which you hurt me
surprises me still. 

I really put up
with all that
for so long? 

I have a
dilemma of self,
because now,
who am I
without you?

I’m the girl
that keeps going,
nose to grindstone,
making the grade,
getting her heart broken
every single day.

Today’s poetry prompt words were: frequency, dilemma, and making the grade.

Photo by Deepak Gupta on Unsplash

playing with words

Do you play in your daily life? What says “playtime” to you?

Certainly my play with words is the biggest form of play in my life and always has been since childhood.

Even in adulthood, it’s weird being one of those people who genuinely means it when they say their favorite things to do are read and write. That’s me!

I’d also rather stay inside than go out at any given time, an 80% indoor girl, I’d say.

But I don’t mind being the quiet dreamer who stays in and spins stories after sucking them down as fast as I … Read the rest

take me back – 2/1000

Photo by Javier Ortiz on Unsplash

It looks so small from up here, but I know if I were down in those streets it would feel endless. The maze of metal and glass, the spires and speeding cabs, the cacophony of it all bringing me to life.

But I don’t belong here anymore, I feel too old for the speed and chaos, too tired. Once I danced to pulsing music under flashing lights and felt invincible. Now I go to work and go home and feel invisible.

But, you will find there’s some life in me yet if you can … Read the rest

the proposal – 1/1000

Photo by Siora Photography on Unsplash

He was down on one knee with the open box in his hand, looking at me, confused.

“Who are you?” he asked.

“Bobby, it’s me. What do you mean?”

He looked at the shimmering ring in his hand and snapped the box closed as he stood.

“I don’t know what’s going on here, but I don’t know you.”

“Excuse me, dear, where am I?” a woman asked.

Everyone in the room looked scared and confused but me.

What magic is this, what evil?

I was inches away from everything I wanted, but he forgot … Read the rest

Hello, 2026

What are your biggest challenges?

Finishing what I start.

That was one of the easiest questions I’ve had to answer in quite a while.

Surely, no one has noticed, but this morning I posted a poem on my website for the 68th day in a row. I have been following prompts by my favorite living poet, Maya Stein, and with only 22 days left in this 90 day project, I am very confident that I will finish it.

I haven’t missed a day and cheated even once, and for that I am proud, but I want to do more.… Read the rest

never close enough

You always take care of the dirty dishes. Always. I can’t remember the last time my hands slid in slimy, sudsy soap water. You always take the trash out. You always bring things down to the storage space so I don’t have to go down the scary stairs full of cobwebs. We were so close to making it, but not close enough. I’ll never know what glue I was missing that could have kept you here, but I think I was the one lacking, and I will blame myself for everything until my last breath. I’m taking the jump from … Read the rest

peace out, 2025

What makes you feel nostalgic?

It’s a new year tomorrow.

It used to be such a big deal to me, celebrating the new year, but now it doesn’t matter at all, it’s just another day, and a way of marking time.

I’d like tomorrow, my first day of the new year, not to be one of reflection and waxing nostalgic over anything.

I am laser focused on my future and what I am going to do to make it better, and make it on my own.

Life really throws the shit at you sometimes, huh? I didn’t expect that during … Read the rest

what a wonder we were

Another day is fading away and soon you won’t be here anymore. Your presence here has an expiration date, even though I don’t know what it is, or how I’ll get through it. You’re going to go, so I need to grow. I need to remember that I have wings too, and leaving the nest isn’t necessarily not an option. What a wonder it would be if I could get by without you, without my pills, without my therapist. What a wonder it will be if I do. 

Today’s poetry prompt words were: expiration date, leaving the nest, and pills. Read the rest