Pretty lies

If I could play piano as deftly as I do in my dreams

If I could sing and you could hear the rich tones I do when my voice echoes in my ear

If I could put down words, the true ones that bubble up and swell in my heart

This is what I would bring forth into the world.

Something like this:

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=igj20M84hbo&w=420&h=315]

But I only tap, tap, tap a little Heart & Soul

I only whisper my skirmish with harmony

I reveal the yellows, the pinks, the browns of my soul only.

Not so much of the blues.

Or the blacks.

Pretty lies. Only pretty lies.

What’s the Weirdest Thing That’s Happened to You?

I have a vague memory of sitting at the kitchen table in my childhood home and saying to my mom, “I’m weird.” “You’re not weird,”…

In a year in which creating felt hard, I feel proud and a little bit still-in-love with this flash essay I wrote in May 2021.…

“War is what happens when language fails.” — Margaret Atwood * * * * * This is the color of my voice these days ……