Finding Joy While Facing Pain

Little did I know when I fell down our wet back porch stairs at the end of September that I would break both my ulna and radius bones in my left wrist and still be in a cast two months later. There was no joy in this experience but I was determined to look for … Continue reading Finding Joy While Facing Pain →

When Life Delivers Blows, Try to Remain Positive

Me in my hospital bed On my way to a planned 9 day guided tour vacation with my husband to Sicily on Tuesday, I fell on the outside stairs and broke my wrist in several places. So straight to the emergency room we went and not to the airport for our flight to Sicily for … Continue reading When Life Delivers Blows, Try to Remain Positive →

Inconsolable Loss

(Especially for Israeli and Palestinian mothers grieving the loss of their children right now. ) I didn’t know the right thing to say I remained speechless Touching her To show support I was there A silent witness to Her pain Her tears Her loss What words Could possibly console A mother Who loses A child?

What Mary Oliver Taught Me

Poetry need not be complicated Filled with sophisticated words Readers cannot comprehend without consulting a dictionary The words chosen only need to touch The reader’s soul Express something Profound Painful, perhaps, Or filled with awe and wonder It does not matter Just notice something That may never have been truly seen before And then… The … Continue reading What Mary Oliver Taught Me →

Get Alternative Advice for Health Concerns

This is a public service announcement for my readers about the need to get several opinions when a part of your body is in pain. For several years now, I have had lower back pain on my right hand side, just above my right butt check or my bum as the Brits like to call … Continue reading Get Alternative Advice for Health Concerns →

For The Moroccans

I originally wrote this poem for Syrians and Turks who suffered under a devastating earthquake. Now Morocco is facing a similar fate. Photo by Umit Bektas/Reuters Seizing Shaking Crying Dying God in Heaven Is this what you envisioned for us? Pain Suffering Loss Death How do we go on? Sometimes We'd rather not Admiring, perhaps, … Continue reading For The Moroccans →

Haiku on Suicide

My friend took her life Her torment is now over My torment begins

For the Three Million and for Those Who Remain

“More than three million people have died from Covid-19 since the first cases surfaced more than 14 months ago and upended life for people across the globe.” —NY Times The silent killer continues its work. First it stalked the old and infirm and people with underlying conditions. Now it has come on strong to snatch … Continue reading For the Three Million and for Those Who Remain →

Life Lesson 20: Be Grateful for Little Things, Especially When Life Isn’t Going Well

Have you ever had a day where everything is going along great and then, all of a sudden, you wind up in an ambulance on your way to the hospital? Well, that happened to me Tuesday, March 30th. I was attending an English immersion program, working as a volunteer to help Spanish people improve their … Continue reading Life Lesson 20: Be Grateful for Little Things, Especially When Life Isn’t Going Well →

Missing Family, Missing Hope

"I left my heart in San Francisco. High on a hill, it calls to me. To be where little cable cars climb half way to the stars, the morning fog may chill the air. I don't care. My love waits there..."--Tony Bennett The Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco I am so desperate to see … Continue reading Missing Family, Missing Hope →