She didn’t say a word, and neither did I. It may have seemed like just a piece of paper, but to me it represented much more. For nearly eighteen years, I had held on to it and kept it safe. And just as I handed it to her, she let it slip away. Wendell wasContinue reading “Sparkles and Fear”
Category Archives: foster parenting
Cinnamon Coffee
Her baby wore a cotton sun hat, and I saw her at the old park that nearly met the expressway. We were neighbors, people that fell into the same space of time which would eventually lead us to forge a rich, strong friendship. Now, I miss her. We hadn’t become close friends until she movedContinue reading “Cinnamon Coffee”
Still
“You could come to California.” For a second, my feet sunk into the hot sand on Venice Beach and the rhythm of the waves threatened to pull me under, into the forbidden reverie. “If only…” It seemed as if I had just been there, but months had already passed since our idyllic late summer getaway.Continue reading “Still”
In the Shadows
It was time to take the tree down. More needles had fallen to the ground than remained on the branches. The fires were burning, and the timing was curious. I called my friend: my friend that had escaped through her bedroom window to accompany me to toilet-paper a boy’s house very early on a summerContinue reading “In the Shadows”
Lost
One day, she was just gone. Eva was the most striking of all the laying hens, with her nearly iridescent feathers, graceful presence, and animated personality. She was a Lavender Orpington, one of two baby chicks for which I had paid upwards of seventeen dollars each, whereas my original flock of Barred Rocks and EasterContinue reading “Lost”
Earthbound
He’s finally sleeping. I understand why they gave me one of those spoon/fork combos, but it was nearly impossible to cut the “grilled chicken” that occupied the styrofoam plate alongside an extraordinary pile of bright green broccoli. They cannot offer knives to mental health patients. It was a parent tray, though. I wouldn’t have usedContinue reading “Earthbound”
It’s Okay If You Stay Here
He’s orange, and he has orange eyes. He seems to be inhabiting the outskirts of the farm until well after the sun goes down. One of the little boys named him “Macaroni”. We don’t see him very often. If darkness has fallen by the time I bring food to the barn cats, he willContinue reading “It’s Okay If You Stay Here”
After Wendell
I’m getting pretty good at chicken burials. It’s no secret: I didn’t want him in the first place. Maybe that’s not really fair to say; the truth is that I wasn’t confident that I would know how to care for him, and I was intimidated by the thought of having a rooster. I have heardContinue reading “After Wendell”
What Lies Beyond
Jenny has always been a little bit edgy. She’s my chicken. It seems she is always trying to sit on an egg or two, and she will make an awful noise and even snap at me when I reach under her to check for eggs. Today, the egg had been cracked, and she was sittingContinue reading “What Lies Beyond”
A Good Place to Hide
Inside my days lies unspoken beauty that asks for no description, and at the same time a darkness of unknowing, of where there can be no answer now, and maybe never. The lingering smell of a new coat of blacktop added an offputting layer to the earthy freshness of the morning prairie path before me.Continue reading ” A Good Place to Hide “
