I REMEMBER/GROWING UP IN ALBUQUERQUE Crusin Albuquerque by Sally Bryant I REMEMBER I was stopped in the gallery by the painting. There it was, Downtown Albuquerque. The city of my childhood. We were all a part of that city. Hispanics, Italians, and Germans. Here was America without walls. The theaters are there in the…
A WINTER LEGEND The old woman, a kerchief full of twigs slung over her shoulder, halted where I stood in the snow just off the winter trail. My heart was heavy with a sadness that did not match the season. How would I go on with such a burden. She faced me—worn garments, wind-tangled,…
We have mourned this year. This year of cascading losses and stunning realizations. Our abiding trust was challenged: in facts, in truth, in the strength of our constitution, in our democracy, and our sense of community. For many, too many we also mourn the personal losses of family and friends. Our shared grief merges with…
IF YOU MUST CRY Some days. Some days are harder than others. Some days are a little more challenging. Some days everyone gets a little down, even Michelle Obama. “Whenever I find myself growing grim about the mouth, whenever it is a damp drizzly November,” Ismael bemoans in Melville’s Moby Dick. Then, Ismael goes…
IF YOU MUST CRY Some days. Some days are harder than others. Some days are a little more challenging. Some days everyone gets a little down, even Michelle Obama. “Whenever I find myself growing grim about the mouth, whenever it is a damp drizzly November,” Ismael bemoans in Melville’s Moby Dick. Then, Ismael goes…
By Thelma on June 27, 2020 I can’t count the number of times in the last few weeks I have heard, “I am so done with the virus, the isolation, not getting together for brunch, etc.” I hear the words and wonder, so what? What does that mean? Has reality succumbed to your personal “done with”? We all…
PLANTED IN PENNIES Do you remember the old rhyme “Find a penny pick it up all the day you’ll have good luck”? Does anyone pick up a penny any more? Do most of us dismiss a copper glint on the sidewalk as unworthy of our effort? Seeing a penny and picking it up has always…
Discovering Ourselves in the Time of Pandemic When you live with a chronic illness that keeps you bedridden for days at a time you learn to live life in your mind. You either learn to be comfortable with yourself or you don’t. If you don’t you make yourself and everyone around you miserable. When the…
Yesterday, my book club faced the new reality. We had a phone conference book club meeting. It went surprisingly well. While some chose not to participate, those of us who did found a comfortable space to shelter us. We heard the familiar voices we heard every month. We dove into the story, the messages, the…
My poetry comes from secret messages from nature, from a moment when a sentence, a phrase captures me with its rhythm and the words tumble onto the page. Mostly, my poetry is formed by wild, willful words that seek their own space and way to the page and to the receptive reader. As a member…