The door slammed. The table shook with fear, and the chairs knocked themselves over. Her house had never been so scared of her, for her. Ramming her hand against the marble shoe holder, over and over. What was there, blood and tears. What wasn't, his bear slippers, her clarity.

Getting up and staggering to the balcony, she slid the door open collapsing onto the cold cement. Scrapes adorned her on...

Her hand shook as she reached up the grasp the doorknob. Slowly she turned the handle and pushed feeling resistance from the wooden door she had had no problem opening this morning. Her heartbeats increased as she moved inside, the light fading as she crossed the threshold. She brushed through a cobweb that was blocking the hallway tripped over a pile of dust, how had it gotten so bad so fast?

Sh...

I was at a poetry reading

She spoke about immigration

Loss of culture

Loss of identity

She spoke about chaos, confusion

She said

"father I don't understand what I am writing"

Now I've taken it entirely out of context

Father, I don't understand what I am writing

I think she meant language

My immigrant mother desperately trying to strike the match and fuel the flame

That never existed in the ...

She remembers that night as if it was only yesterday. Every. Single. Detail.

Leah had always thought that her older sister Emily was beautiful. As a child Leah would set on Emily’s bed watching her do her hair and make up, as Leah got older Emily would always ask Leah for her input. Leah had always told her that she looked gorgeous. That night, she had a date with Ethan Long, the high school quar...

Her eyes were locked onto mine. Deep and dark, they led the passage to bliss, wonder, joy, and something that was capable of yanking my heart straight from my chest, rendering it useless at her feet.

Slowly she stood. Her stare was tender and fierce; a play of raw love and intensity, her posture poignant. She was on a mission. She had a goal. She was dedicated. She wasn’t going to fail. Today, r...

thoughts are part of your world

and mine as well as any

though thoughts are often swirled

into puddles of feelings quite heavy

thoughts are things you think at night

thoughts are things that never leave you

thoughts can sometimes tangle so tight

tell someone, they won’t believe you

thoughts get so confusing

you think a thought you thought before

and quite soon you are losing

this thou...

I looked over at my friend.

This was someone that I knew in the deepest portions of my soul, would have my back through thick and thin.

It was more than that, however.

This friend had seen me at some of my most emotionally taxing and vulnerable places.

It was as I sat in his living room, the stinging hot tears of exasperation and exhaustion pouring down my face from slowly dismantling my iden...

To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness, that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that He might be glorified.”

Isaiah 61:3

The ability to transform is a significant aspect of our character and emotions, and allowing God to guide us through difficu...

Inhale.

Exhale.

I can't even look at her body.

I feel like I'm drowning; suffocating in the knowledge that **_I'm_** the reason she's dead.

It's my fault.

My fault.

My—

I want to scream, to cry, to do anything besides stand here like a statue.

But I can't bring myself to move.

There aren't any words, nor sounds, that can describe the sinking feeling in my chest, the way my heart is teari...

The road flew by under our wheels as we drove, the ocean to our left. Wind whipped through open windows, tousling my brown curls. He turned up the radio before reaching for my hand. I could’t help but smile. I rubbed my thumb back and forth to let him know I approved. He returned that with a gentle squeeze of my hand and a beautiful smile of his own.

We pulled up onto the sand as the sun su...