I am the bleeding womanmy body a brittle wineskinleaking joymy purse exhaustedby the fruitless help of healers I have longed forrelease from hopeheart sick with its delayto despair fullytempts meand yet I hold twelve years has weaknessimprisoned me my boundaries drawn unpleasantlyin law and bloodshadowed and untouched an urgent crowd now rushes Jesus to a fading daughterher 12 years blooming and belovedto my 12 shrinking and stainedbut like a shockhope shoots through me with all that remains of faithlike...
Hello friends! This past month has been a whirlwind of adjustments for our family. All my children are now back in in-person school four days a week! My introverted and creative soul has been revived by the wonderfully quiet hours between 9:30 and 1:30. Two weeks ago, I was at a vaccine clinic at our local university’s basketball stadium getting my second dose of the Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine (for which I’m so grateful!) . After waiting the requested 15...
I am creating a series of art and poems based on the words Jesus spoke to women. This poem is based on the story of the woman caught in adultery from John 8:1-11. Did he come to temple at dawnknowing I’d be caughtin a top ten sindragged alonedefenseless, half-dresseda pawn in the lawkeepers’ game tocatch the strange teacher? their one solutionis stonestheir goal–their rightness, not minethey demand He choosethe sinneror the stone as if stones could cleanmy conscience crushedby condemnation they spread...
Cover Image original caption reads “the power of dancing to soothe the savage breast upon the western plains.” From the New York Public Library Digital Collection. I began this series on things I never understand about anti-racism back in April 2019. In the process of beginning to see my blindspots in regards to race, I have been deeply grieved, but I have also found so much freedom, clarity and humanity. As with whatever I write here, I aim to...
Hello and happy April . . . and Holy Week! I have a bunch of happy plant babies growing in my dining room and all kinds of plants waking up in the yard. It’s always a joy to see them faithfully returning each year. My two back-to-in-person-school kids are doing well and adjusting to the new routine. I have even had some mental space to start sketching on the iPad for new coloring pages and cards sets. I’ve been...
I am going through a series of art and poems based on the words Jesus spoke to women. This is based on the words Jesus spoke to his mother, Mary, at a wedding in Cana recorded in John 2:1-11. Grown now, Jesus calls me “woman”endearing me even knowing all my strugglesconstructing a family in the ruins of clashing empires at this wedding we dancerhythms of celebrationin a world of pressure and disappointmentthe wine loosens our grief until“they have no wine,” I...
