You must draw a line somewhere,
mark the spot of no return –
if someone crosses your boundary
you have to be able to say:

“Look, I showed you.
I told you what would happen
if you didn’t start respecting me.”

It’s your job to decide
what you will and will not
tolerate, even from the people
you have always loved the most.

When you’re broken and
still breaking, go to the ocean.

Remember that salt water
is the cure for everything.

Take off your shoes and socks
and wiggle your toes in the sand
before you start walking.

Go … Read the rest

You were the most gentle friend.

You were not comforting, but
your skin and hair and body were soft,
smooth, soothing to the touch.

You never seemed to understand
what you were doing wrong
until you had already done it,

and as much as you want to please,
you more often end up fumbling
to find an excuse for the things you do
and worse, the things you don’t do.

Pivot, I said.

If you don’t change things,
if we can’t change things between us,
if we can’t turn them around and
start our way down a whole different road,… Read the rest

I woke up at 5:30 this morning, which I try to do every day that I work my day job.

See how I said “work my day job”?

Maybe if I keep telling myself it’s just my day job, I will once again be able to tell people with confidence that I am a writer.

A writer who has barely written or shared anything she’s written in years, besides snippets of poetry and prose catered to prompts.

Not that I’m complaining about writing prompts, I love writing prompts. They get me writing faster and with more speed and enthusiasm than … Read the rest

Things are hard – harder than they’ve been in ages.

But I’m patient, I’m dedicated, and I’m not giving up.

When people ask me how I got through these years I’ll tell them, It was my deep inner strength, and they won’t believe me but I’ll smile at them anyway because at least I know it’s true.

---

This was written in response to Maya Stein’s Tri-Writing prompt: What are your favorite tools? Tell us in 3 lines. 

You should have taught us about debt and why we shouldn’t start using credit cards upon graduating high school when all those offers come in the mail, you should have taught us how and why it’s so important to vote in local elections, you should have at the very least taught us how to change a fucking tire.

You should have taught us to save more money and why it’s important to take better care of our teeth, how to file our taxes, and choose insurance without being swindled; you shouldn’t have sent us out into the world until we … Read the rest