An utter absence of feeling.

Where my heart should be

I feel a cold, heavy stone.

So much nothingness. 

I might have been eating a bit too fast.

The delicate task
of extracting an almond
now lodged in my bra.

The sun is shining! Yay! I'm at work! Boo!

Absolute torture
to be stuck behind a desk
on a day like this!

I don't want to be right about this.

They disappear, dodge,

abandon, disappoint, hurt. 

I observe, wounded. 

Cut from the same cloth.

For Miss Vu.

Beautiful and bold,
two spirits breaking open.
We walk together.

Alone but not lonely.

Learning to resist
hanging out with my smartphone.
Savour solitude.

Not a haiku.

On the back of each leg, I have a tattoo of a rose. On my right leg is a red rose with a banner that says "Zetta."On my left leg is a pink rose. Its banner says "Zaara." My mother on my right - my dominant leg - because she gives me strength. My daughter on my left leg because she gives me direction.

Today, as I honour the paths women around the world have walked before me, the paths they walk with me, and the paths they'll walk when I'm gone, I'm expressing particular gratitude to these two women who help me walk my own path with courage, passion and strength.

And to all the women in my life - thank you for sharing your perspectives, your strength and your laughter. My world is a richer, friendlier and more beautiful place because you are in it.

Happy International Women's Day.

Sometimes I wish I were better at fooling myself.

Fear makes the words stick

hard and sharp-edged in my throat.

I can't make this work.

Breaking open.

A day tinged with the
softest ache. Melancholy
buoyed by growing hope.