Poetry and Prose

“Just Friends”  But friends don’t look at each other like that Friends don’t recognize the difference in pitch in the way you breathe Friends don’t memorize the shape of a smile Or the way the air grows softer when you come around Friends don’t linger in goodnight until the early AM Friends don’t wait for your name to pop up on a screen Friends say “I’m fine” when “I miss you” is on the tip of our tongues Friends don’t fear when shoulders touch  Or count the seconds until you look away  Friends don’t dream about sitting closer Or the press of your lips against my temple  Friends don’t memorize or crave the way your hand fits in mine Friends don’t feel homesick when you leave the room Friends don’t taste like comforting coffee or smell like rain Friends don’t queue up memories with you like a favorite song Or try to find metaphors that sound like you Friends don’t try to memorize the sound of your laugh like an old home video  Friends don’t see carlights in your ...

I knew exactly who I was when I was 14 years old  A wildflower pressed between the pages  of a hand-me-down Bible,  ink bleeding from the margins of prayers  I didn’t yet understand.  I wore chipped nail polish and certainty like armor,  believing the world would unfold kindly  If I just smiled enough, if I just stayed small.  Fourteen was a hymn half-sung,  a hallway echo of laughter  and mascara tears,  The taste of rebellion hiding under peppermint gum.  I knew who I was,  a girl who thought forever meant next summer,  who thought love was supposed to hurt a little,  who thought growing up was a straight line.  Now— I am softer, slower,  still searching for the edges of that girl I used to be.  She visits me sometimes in the quiet before sleep,  And I tell her, I’m still trying to remember you, And somehow, I think you’d be proud.

When I was twenty-one, My friend asked me to read Hinds' Feet for High Places. And only after closing the last page Did I finally understand the quote... “Love is open-heart surgery.” See, love isn’t soft violins and easy smiles. Love is bearing the deepest, most intimate, most vulnerable part of you... placing it on a table, and letting someone decide whether to cut, to keep, or to stitch. We forget… Both people hold something sharp enough to kill us. But the brave thing? Is choosing to trust anyway. Choosing to believe they’ll heal, not harm. Most days, I watch people hand their hearts to those with knives instead of scalpels, icepicks instead of needles, and they wonder… Why are they left bleeding when people leave? And then I saw you. Sharp in your hand, eyes steady, and I had no idea the kind of damage you could do. And still… I trusted you, and I lay down on the cold table of my own fear, closed my eyes, and waited. You grafted into my heart a sense of safety I had never know...

Does a river know which way it’s supposed to flow?  Does love know that it’s you I dream of pulling close?  Does rain always fall?  Back to you, I’ll crawl Waiting for your espresso brown eyes To meet mine, your hand helps me to rise  But you’d clear the dust from where I kneel So kind, so strong, so steady like steel You’re the first thing I’ve never feared You sought me when I disappeared  And when life got hard and I went away and hid Your love makes me safe, like when I was small kid Your touch is gentle and warm A peace in this life’s long storm Your voice helps ground me when I feel lost in the masses And when my head gets swarmed by different classes When exhaustion creeps into my bones We find peace in a pair of headphones Late night talks that lead to teary eyes  You look at mine, your favorite prize Of all the flaws you think you have, I find none Of all that I could adore, I see only one  With you, my heart is rich, not poor You my dear, my ...

I’ve never been one for a love poem, or sushi, for that matter. But when Pudge came into my life— like the blink of an eye— Everything changed. I think about the future. I don’t fear the storms that may come; I don’t flinch at cold rain or harsh hands that reach too near. I think about the future. It doesn’t seem so scary anymore— plane flights and long drives, whispered plans and a whole lot of prayer, Your laughter already there. I think about the future— rustic and intimate, something that terrifies us both, Yet we’ve wanted for so long. Now I find your eyes in every tree. I think about the future— How I don’t want to lose you, And I can’t imagine it without you. I pray that you’re always near, even if you are 4,164 miles away. I think about the future, and I’m not sure what it holds. But as long as loyalty and love Stay safe and warm, I think I’ll be okay.

A baby girl pink A deep forest green I always knew pink and green were meant to meet, But never thought I’d witness them together Now I see them everywhere I accidentally pair them in my favorite outfits  And in all the books I highlight  I see rainy mornings with damp hair  I see them on sleepy nights Where laughter turned into silence  And silence turned into safety  I see stargazing and kind words  That I’m too scared to appreciate  I see long drives and good music  Our hands intertwined during church services  Warm tea cooling in our hands  Like our hearts, we were warm enough Inside jokes that are stitched into pauses  And how nothing feels like everything  In the way, I can’t take a compliment And you say my laugh is your favorite sound  Our story reads like a rom-com Full of missed cues and stubborn hearts  Always taking stage left to leave  Because we are so scared of being right Or being on the wrong pag...

October 5th, 2025 It’s your 54th birthday I didn’t think you’d make it this far But to be fair I also never dared to dream Of a time when all you got was a lousy call And half-assed “I love yous”  Every time I talk to you It feels real hollow Like the absence you left behind I know you didn’t mean to leave But to be fair, You always had one foot out the door And I wish I could hate you, I don’t I kinda understand why you left Because it’s hard to stay in a place  Where rules feel more like prison bars And you aren’t sure what you’ve done to deserve this I inherited your round face and button nose  And your broken view of love I understand your protection of your brother The envious desire for your mom I am sorry you have to live without them both What I don’t understand is how you left your only child A little girl who had emotional issues And a mom who didn’t care to stick around  A little girl who was slicing open her skin Trying to find a connection in her blood t...