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I wrote a poem.

Living Happy Extra

JUL 29, 2023

I posted this on my substack last week, but I thought I might share it here, too!

Also, I’m teaching a free workshop at the Writing Barn, August 22. You should come! Here’s the

I was born backwards and with the caul wrapped around my head. For a long time, doctors thought I was blind, but then, eventually, my eyes reacted to light. At one, I had an operation. But even then, after the patches and then with t...

It’s a poem!

GHOSTEDIt was like one of those self-help blogsThat only talk in abstractionsAbout the power of self-loveOr how to end a toxic relationship.That’s when I realized That the person not showing upWas me. All that bemoaningAbout not putting in the effort,Not taking the time to make sureSentences weren’t ordersAnd feelings were considered,To temper my tone with kindness, It was just me being the bully to myselfBefore ghosting off to do other things...

I tell the story about one of my grandmother’s a lot. She was born in 1896, which means she’d be 127 now if she was still alive, which is kind of staggering. She died in 2001, which if my math is right, means she made it to 104, which is pretty staggering, too. My dad was her youngest child and I was his youngest child by a lot, which is why I’m not 80 right now.

Anyway, my grandmother was about 4-foot-10 and she loved art and books and music and deep thought. She wasn’t a positive pe...

I wrote a poem.

TOURIST LOVE
At dusk as I tiptoed along the Shore Path,
Between tourists grumbling about fog and the price of lobster,
Listening to the sound of whaler motors humming
out existence, I fell in love with a rose bush.

Not the cultivated kind, but the stubborn ones that cling to sea walls,
Bees fluttering about, wild and limby, stabbing at passersby,
Bright pink and white blooms, calling you in
Without asking for anything back. Just existin...

It’s okay to be milquetoast if you want to be

When my daughter was little, she was at a preschool and another girl attacked her, knocking her down, roaring like a lion, saying she was going to eat her up. My daughter’s dress was ripped. When I picked her up, the teachers said, “Don’t worry, we talked to the other girl about why she was feeling aggressive.�

“Yes,� I said, “but did any of you talk to my little girl?�

They hadn’t. Not really.

And my daughter never returned t...

Understanding Emotion

Sometimes when my ex-husband was angry and drunk his posture would change. It wasn’t upright with his shoulders back. It wasn’t just that his hands would curl into fists. It was the movement of his arms, the hunching of his shoulders, how his legs suddenly pointed out when he walked, how his chest expanded, how his arms swung.

“He looks like a gorilla,� I would think usually backing up, hands out, placating. “Just like a gorilla.�

It seemed ridiculous to me, a ...

This live podcast we talked about the strange things our canine friends munch on and sometimes gulp down.

Rubber duckies, anyone?

SHOUT OUT TO STUBHY!

The snippet of our intro and outro music is only a snippet of this guy’s awesome talent. Many thanks toÌý. You can check out a bit of his work at the links below.

Ìý´Ç°ùÌýÌý

Thanks for hanging out with us! And remember, don’t be afraid to let your stran...

The two women were walking down the sidewalk toward the library, heading toward me. I knew one of them. Everyone in town knows her. I’d met with her a few months ago, confused about why she’d wanted to meet me. Whatever the reason, it was obvious that I’d failed the test the way I do sometimes.

I’d reached out to her again. She never responded. I tried one more time. Nothing.

Maybe her email was chaos. I know mine is. I didn’t worry about it. I tend not to stress about that sort of thi...