It was second grade. We’d just moved out to California from Wisconsin. I was staying with my aunt and cousin in Tustin. Mom had to go to Germany. Her mother was dying. Dad was busy in Santa Barbara, starting his new job and finding us a house. Moving can be…

What would happen if you put a hummingbird into a small box with no way out? No escape. That tiny little bird would Smash and bruise itself As it flew again and again into the walls of that box. A hummingbird doesn’t belong in a box. Neither do you. How many people are put into boxes from childhood? Who they should be. How they should be. When to speak. When not to speak. How to love. Who to love.

An empty bottle of pills was beside him When he was found in the car With a hose attached to the exhaust pipe At 25, he’s tried to end his life He’s only 25. I’ve lost count of how many times he has been in our hospital It’s easy to…

Walls constructed From babyhood on To prevent you From hurting me Again. Walls that prevent Me from living free Continuous cycles of “I can’t, I won’t, What if?” We’re shackled by our thoughts, They get stronger with age We may see fear’s illusion, We still can’t turn the page. With…

You wake up in the middle of the night and find that he’s not in bed beside you. “He must be in the bathroom,” you mutter to yourself. You go into the bathroom, and there he is, on his 90-year-old knees, trying to clean up urine that accidentally dripped onto…

Opposite beings all inside me. One wants control, Another is free. Together they dance til The two become one, No longer fragmented Wholeness begun! There’s the one who is frightened And can’t do a thing, Another who’s sassy Ready for whatever life brings. Sassy takes Frightened Into her arms, Holding…

Mother and father argue and spit, As the child lies in bed, in fear. (There’s a war going on.) Ears bruised by the rumbling Of bombs dropping. Eyes drip as poisonous gas Fills the room. A prisoner of war. She stares at the ceiling, Hoping to find god there. Instead…

You are a caged tiger, Growling at your imprisonment. Then, a sudden revelation Bursts open cage doors. “There is no reason To be bound up and jailed!” In a fury you smash The rules made of clay, The putrid taste of prison dissolved Bitter like dandelion or Unsweetened cocoa on your tongue. Pieces of clay, Smashed, die, You’ve awakened. In open field You run like a child You are a particle of dust.

They cut back the trees this morning. They call it “pruning.” Now, the trees are bare. In angry frustration I care for you. One moment love, Then love’s subdued. The bare trees Don’t cry like me When like a wood chipper You grind my branches — Cut me back I yell, complain, Unlike trees. Torn, the flesh Of emotional strife. The comings and goings Of hope, then loss. You ravage my branches. Wood chipped away.