interstices the space between trees the crack in the mortar the time between floors if we took away the spaces between us among us the universe would collapse into a fist the rest between notes the breath before words the pause to ponder intervening emptinesses waiting to be noticed to be seen as something other…
ritual in search of significance the last thing I do before I go to bed is to disconnect my implant and hearing aid and enter into quietness it is necessary action because both my batteries and my body need to recharge so I settle into silence each device has a cradle where it rests for…
breakfast potatoes in our favorite breakfast joint on the way home from the hospital for the first time in a long time I heard the sound of one chef chopping the rhythm of the knife beating in my new ear a sound my brain knows by heart when I caught his eye I asked, “making…
fear factor it was not long after the third doctor came by to tell me it would be another hour until I was taken back to the operating room that the woman in the next cubicle began to assert herself “I want to leave” a sentiment shared on almost every stretcher but she was serious…
ablation the word rings in my ears like a rite or a ritual though I am not sure exactly what role I play it means “a carrying away” in its oldest form though medically it’s “a removal of something harmful” they will carry away broken bits of my heart to restore its rhythm that sounds…
Since I had my cochlear implant surgery eight weeks ago, I have been writing a poem a day to help me reflect on what is happening to me and my hearing. This is today’s poem. cartography we forget the word map is short for mappa mundi map of the world or perhaps map of a…
practice the little blind dog sits with her face to a sun she cannot see basking without asking for more so much to learn
friday night lights at the funeral home on a friday evening one of the speakers quoted Mary Oliver “four small stones hugging each other” an image of love in a roomful of loss the one who just lost his husband took the words in with the rest of us and then stood up to say…
affirmation season the best part of deacons’ meeting on the night after the Oscars was when one said, “how long has it been since we told the staff they were doing a good job?’ after a short silence another replied, “it’s always a good time to say that” someone else volunteered to send cards none of…
making stock the air was as cold as it was grey today and the forecast of rain sent me stacking the stock pot on the stove pulling poultry bones from the freezer as well as a couple of bags of celery butts and carrot ends garlic fresh parsley and a sliced lemon its been simmering…