"The ride picked up speed, and by the second time around the loop, Molly was pushed by the centrifugal force of the circling ride to the outer edge of her seat. As the cars sped around and around, she looked smaller and smaller in her seat, her fingers gripped tightly to the metal bar in front of her. I saw the terror imprinted on her face, the paralyzing fear that the ride would not end, that she would be holding tight, spinning in circles, alone, for time unimaginable." I'm sure that all parents have moments that they regret, moments when they witnessed as their child lost his or her sense of security--and could not, for whatever reason, come to the rescue quickly enough. "The Force of Lov

In this season of graduations, I am delighted to announce that Bloodletters Literary Magazine has published my poem "Commencement." A reflection on my unusual college graduation twenty-six years ago, this poem recalls my entry into a very different post-college experience than most grads face as they walk across the stage and receive their hard-earned diplomas. Newly diagnosed with ovarian cancer, I was recovering from surgery and my first round of chemo as I processed with my classmates into our graduation ceremony, the day one of joy but the future holding much uncertainty. "Commencement" I push my hair into place, arrange the mortarboard atop my head. Clipping it to strands of hair wea

Thank you for stopping by my brand new website, where I will be sharing my published poems and essays, announcing forthcoming publications, highlighting work that might be of interest, as well as occasionally musing on my writing life. As I begin this journey, the timing of my June launch brings to mind not only graduations (stayed tuned for more on that in the coming week!) but also of the 55th anniversary of civil rights leader Medgar Evers' assassination on June 12. In 1963, Evers was gunned down and killed in the driveway of his home, with his wife and three children just steps away inside, on a summer evening in Jackson, Mississippi. Evers pulled his body around his car to the front doo